Akita Evita
by Bondi
Summary: RENT through Angel's POV. M for later things...and if you've seen RENT, you'll know what I mean.
1. Akita Evita

Why am I out here today? My GOD it's freezing. I would have hated to come out in drag today. Jesus it's freezing, I can barely feel my pickle tub. But, I can't complain. Five bucks for only an hour is pretty good for such cold weather. Maybe because it's Christmas Eve, that must be it. People are so sweet. However, no matter how cold it is, it's even colder in my apartment, so I have to keep going. As I continue to drum, I heard a loud beeping sound close to me. I look up. My eyes grow as I see the largest, whitest limo parked right infront of me. The heavily tinted window rolled down, and a woman's face emerged. She was blonde, very springy, but neat hair. Her lipstick was heavy, and she wore a white mink jacket. What was this woman doing in this side of town? She looked at me from over her expensive sunglasses, which to this day I can't understand. It's December. I stood up, and with her index finger, motioned me over to her. I was a bit nervous, but I walked over to her limo, and knelt down a bit to face her properly.

"I've been listening to your drumming for a while darling, you're very good." She told me with a high-class smile. What a sweetie.

"Thank you." I told her, and grinned. She looked at me over, which didn't make me feel that uncomfortable. I get that kind of look a lot.

"Could you be a dear and do me a favor? You look like you could use some money." She told me.

"Well…I guess so…" I started, wondering what she could possibly want.

"Of course you do! Now hop in." She said, and opened the door to her limo. I looked at her curiously, wondering what could possibly posses someone to ask a street drummer to step into their limo. Nonetheless, when would I ever get a chance to sit in a limo? I grabbed my bag and pickle tub, and stepped into her limo. She scooted over so I could get in. I shut the door behind me, and a rush of warm air healed my fingers. I smiled, and looked around. It was huge, just like I thought it would be. "Would you like something to drink dear? You look like you could use a nice warm drink. Coffee, tea?" She offered me. I smiled at her. She was really too kind.

"Thank you…some tea would be lovely." I told her. I felt guilty, I didn't know this woman, and she had already done a lot for me. She smiled, and reached in the side of the door next to her, and took out a mug. Holding it, she poured hot water from a small kettle, and dropped a teabag in there. She handed it to me, and I held it tightly. It felt good in my hands. I took a sip, and looked up at her smiling. "Thank you again." I told her, and she shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. Now, for that favor I want to ask of you." She said, and took her glasses off. I could tell why she wore them now. Even with all that make-up on, I could still see huge bags under her eyes. "For the past year I've been having trouble sleeping. I barely get any, because of a nasty little addition to my apartment building." She told me, and sighed.

"A baby?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"No. I can deal with that sort of thing. No, not a child. My neighbor's dog. An akita by the name Evita. Or at least that's what my neighbor's wife shouts out of her door when she leaves for the day." She said, and growled under her breath. "This damn dog won't shut up. It barks day and night. I have complained too many times for this to be acceptable." She told me, and I nodded. I completely agreed with her. She shouldn't have to stay up all night because her neighbor's dog was barking. Poor dear. "So, that's where you come in."

"What can I do?" I asked her, confused at how I could possibly be a part of this.

"You can drum your little heart out, that's what you can do." She said, and flashed me another grin. My face squished in confusion. How on earth would that help? I thought she wanted quiet. She giggled at my expression. "Oh darling, you don't know? Well, I want you to go out near their window, and play as loud and as fast as you can. I want you to break that dog to insanity so it'll be permanently silent." She told me with a sly face. My eyes grew wide.

"You-you want me to drum until a dog goes insane?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"I want you to drum until it barks itself to death." She told me, and I gave her a wild look. "But, before you can disagree to this favor, I want to tell you what I'm offering you." She told me, and took out her purse from under the seat. She opened it, and I saw a large bundle of money let out of the top. "One grand." She said simply, and my mouth dropped. "Now, I doubt you can say no to that kind of deal sweetie." She told me, and closed the purse back up, and put it in my pickle tub, not accepting a 'no'. I looked at her, and she extended her hand. "Do we have a deal?" She asked. I sighed, and swallowed. My hand reached hers, and shook it.

"Deal." I told her, not knowing if I regretted this or not. I would soon find out, because when she let go of her hand, the limo stopped. Wait, where we moving? I must not have paid enough attention. Where were we? Not very far, I hadn't been here a while. She pressed a button on her door, and the window closest to me opened. She pointed out the window. I could immediately here a barking, yapping kind of bark small dogs make. I looked out the window. Outside was a nice looking apartment building, or at least, nicer than my own, which was absolutely horrid. At the top, must have been the penthouse, was a window that was ajar, and I could see the small ginger pooch hanging out of it, barking it's head off.

"That's the little demon I want put away." She told me, and I sighed, looking at her.

"I still don't understand how drumming is going to do anything to this dog but make it continue barking." I told her, and frowned slightly.

"Trust me darling, it'll work out just fine. I'll be back in a few hours, and I expect to see that dog dead when I do." She told me, and I sighed. I put my hand on the door handle, and opened it. I gave her one last glance. "You'll be fine." She told me. I turned back and got out of the car. I went to shut the door, but she spoke. "And this…is our little secret." She told me, and she looked into my eyes. I looked at her, and nodded.  
"Alright." I told her, and shut the door to her limo. I stood up straight, my pickle tub in arm. The limo drove off slowly, and I turned to the building. The dog, Evita, was still barking.

"Poor woman…no wonder she can't sleep." I said, and sighed, cringing at the high-pitched yaps the dog let out. I was across the street from the building, so that I could see the window and dog clearly. I sat myself down, my bag cushioning me. I placed the pickle tub inbetween my legs, and began to drum. I could hear the dog's barks get louder and angrier. I played to its voice. The faster she barked, the faster I played. The louder she barked, the louder I played. My drumming crescendo ended when I heard a howl and a yelp replaced by the barks. I looked up at the building. The dog was gone. My eyes averted every which way. What made it yelp like that? Was it an owner that grabbed the dog? Did they see me? I looked down right across the street, and there was my answer. A mound of ginger fur lay at the entrance of the apartment building. My eyes widened. The dog fell and had died. I killed a dog. For money. By drumming.

SHIT.

I bolted out of sight as quick I my legs would work. The last thing I wanted to happen was someone calling the cops on me because of a dead dog. New York wasn't on my side. I would never get out of that kind of a mess. I continued to run, and found a familiar alleyway. I heard someone. I tapped on my pickle tub, trying to ignore it. My heart was racing, hoping no one had witnessed what I just committed. I climbed a fire escape, and began to play my pickle tub. I hear someone again, and I stopped for a second, and looked around. No one was there. So, I began to play again, but I heard a groan, and I stopped. I put my pickle tub down on one of the steps, and stood up. I grabbed a pole and hung out the escape to see where these sounds were coming from. To my left is where I saw him.

He sat huddled, wiping his face, shivering. It was blood that he was wiping from his face. I hopped down from where I was, and looked at him. He looked scared and hurt, so I didn't want to frighten him, so I walked over slowly, and looked down at him. He saw me, and looked up. He winced lightly. He looked like he was beat up pretty good.

"You okay honey?" I asked him softly, and knelt down next to him. He backed off from me only an inch, because he winced in pain.

"I don't think so." He told me. His voice cracked, and I frowned. Poor baby, out here for who knows how long, bleeding away, and probably freezing. I grabbed my handkerchief from my pocket, and tried to wipe away some blood from him, and he quickly backed off. Cleary this man did not want me to touch him. I sighed at him.

"What happened to you?" I asked, not wanting to just leave this guy on the street to bleed to death.

"Mugged. Not like I had anything much to take. I've got no money, I just got here. So they took my goddamn coat." He told me, and took a sleeve to his nose. He seemed very hostile, and that hostility wasn't going to get him any better. I sighed, and stood up, holding out my hand. He looked at it for a second, and then back up at my face. His brown eyes became a little more trusting, and with a free hand, he took mine. "Thanks." He said, as I lifted him off the ground. I had to hold him up for a second, well; actually, I wanted to hold him for a second. I'm pretty sure he was stable, I'm not sure why I did it, but he didn't seem to mind. When he got himself steady to my liking, I let go of him.

"I'm Angel, Angel Dumott Schunard." I told him, and smiled lightly, looking back into his brown eyes. I would have to tell my friend how gorgeous they were later. He smiled, showing me a lovely row of white teeth, and my eyes left his eyes, and my heart melted when I saw that gorgeous smile.

"I'm Collins…umm…Tom. My name's Tom Collins, but my friends just call me Collins." He said and shrugged.

"Well, I hope that I'll be able to call you Collins." I told him, and smirked. Thankfully, he laughed at what I said. All right, I'm not one to judge, considering my stand on the subject, my when I looked at that face, my gaydar just went flying. It didn't make the situation better though. So, now I was nervous. I was flirting with a beautiful man, but he's gay. Now the flirting, for pretty much the first time in my life, means something.

"I'd prefer it. Last time someone called my Tom, my dad was yelling at me." He chuckled, and I smiled. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your drumming. You're pretty good." He told me, and I couldn't help but feel my cheeks get hot. I must have been blushing purple.

"Don't worry sweetie, it's not like it was your fault you were mugged and left in the alley to die." I told him and smiled. "Come over to my place and we can get you warmed up and clean. You look like you could use a few bandages too." I told him, and he blushed lightly.

"Well, I don't want to get in your way, and I came here to visit my friends, they're probably worried sick." He told me. I shook my head. I wasn't just going to let him out of my sight like that. I wanted to make sure he'd be fine.

"I'm not letting you refuse my offer." I told him in a mocking grounded way. He laughed.

"I guess I don't have a choice. Thank you very much…Angel." He told me, and smiled.

"It's my pleasure Collins." I said, and I think I squeaked. How could I have helped it? His growl of a voice saying my name just made me too weak. "Come on, my apartment isn't too far away." I told him, and we began to walk down the block to my apartment.


	2. Actual Reality

I jiggled the door handle of my apartment door. Collins was behind me, probably very nervous by now. We had got a lot of looks from people on the way out. They weren't bad ones though. Everyone in my building new I was a drag queen, so they were never surprised if I brought a boy home. Sadly, none of those boys where good boys. They were just out for my drag acts, or just incredibly drunk. Sometimes it was a mixture of the two. Everyone knew this, so when I heard one of my neighbors say, "maybe this time Angel!" I was a bit embarrassed. I couldn't look at Collins until we got into my apartment. I opened the door, and walked in, and looked back at him for the first time in about five minutes. I wouldn't have even been surprised if he had left. However, I was very reluctant to see his handsome self behind me.

"Come on in sweetie, and take a seat on my couch while I get something to clean you up with." I told him, and motioned towards the squishy couch that limped on the floor. It was missing one leg, which made everything interesting, because it rocked. "Watch out when you sit down though." I warned him right before he sat. The couch tilted a bit, and he gave a small jump of surprise. "Sorry." I told him, and sighed. "I don't have the money to get that fixed…well…not until now." I mumbled to myself, remembering that my bag was now full of a thousand dollars. "I'll be right back." I said, and he nodded. I walked into the…bathroom, and looked through the medicine box. This was the most extensive thing I had here, minus my wardrobe. I needed to have a lot of medication on hand, because, well, I have AIDS. If I got even the littlest bit sick, I needed to get over it fast, or I could die.

I looked through the cabinet, and found a bottle of Neosporin, generic of course, and a few ACE bandages. I grabbed them, and wet a washcloth in the sink. I took the items back into the…livingroom, and saw Collins still sitting on my couch. I smiled, he didn't look too nervous anymore. I sat down next to him, and placed the bandages and Neosporin on the coffee table beside me.

"Now, I'm just going to clean up those brutal cuts on you." I told him, and he shook his head.

"I'd rather you not touch my cuts." He told me sheepishly. I frowned.

"You don't have to be nervous sweetie, I won't hurt. You'll find that I'm very gentle…" I said, but before I could say or do anything else, Collins interrupted.

"I can imagine that you're as gentle as any other Angel in heaven," And, so I blushed again. "But I can't have you touch then for your sake." He told me, nerves getting back to his voice again.

"Why not?" I asked him, confused. "I'm not squeamish or anything." I told him. Squeamish was that last thing I was.

"No, it's not that…I…Angel, I have AIDS." He said, and sighed, almost in relief. I assumed he needed to get that off his chest. I looked into his eyes and shrugged. I, once again, attempted to wash him up, but he moved away again. "Angel, don't you get it? Don't you know what AIDS is?"

"The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Yes, I know what that is. It's taken to be a longtime guest in a home I refer to as my bloodstream." I told him, and averted my eyes from his. I rarely talked about this. I only did once, and that was during Life Support meetings, but that was-SHIT.

"Oh…Angel…I'm sorry…" Collins began to mumble, but my eyes looked at the clock. He saw the change in my expression. "What's the matter?" He asked me, concern in his voice. I looked back at him.

"Nothing, I just remembered a Life Support meeting I had to go to, but it's not for another few hours. Just enough to get you cleaned up, and for me to get changed." I told him, and placed the cloth on his, catching him this time. He seemed very stressed out, stiff and nervous. I looked up at him. "I'm not going to hurt you Collins, don't worry." I told him, and sat closer, wiping off some blood. The poor dear, covered in bruises and cuts that hurt his perfectly dark skin.

"Sorry…it just stings." He told me, and I nodded.

"I'll try to be gentle." I told him, whispering, as if trying to prove it to him.

"You're perfectly gentle." He told him, and I couldn't help but smile. He gave me another grin. I giggled lightly.

"Now, stop distracting me with that gorgeous smile of yours so I can clean you up before you get sick." I told him, and sat closer, wiping his face clean. I felt his cheek, it was hot. I hope I wasn't making him nervous or anything. That wasn't what I wanted at all. I wanted him to feel as comfortable as possible here, with me. As I cleaned him, he was quiet; I cleaned a bit of blood off his collar, where his skin just hid away in his shirt. I cleared my throat, and giggled. He looked up at me.

"What is it?" He asked me.

"This is the hardest part of the battle." I told him softly, and he just looked into my eyes.

"What is?" He asked just as softly.

"Asking you to take your shirt off so I can get the rest." I told him, and giggled again, putting a hand up to m mouth.

"Well…I'm usually against this on the first date Angel." He told me, and my giggles busted into laughter. He laughed with me, and I grinned at him, holding his shoulders.

"Oh you dirty birdie." I mumbled lightly, looking down at him. He stopped laughing, and then just grinned. Wow. What just happened? I don't think I was feeling too well, because my breath just got very short. Come to think of it, I was getting a tad warm. I wish he would stop looking at me like that, it made my head spin. I looked into his eyes, and he looked back. I don't think I could have helped but to do what I did, and that was to lean down, and get so close to his face that we were nearly touching. He noticed the invitation, but hesitated, and looked down. I bit my lip. "Shit…" I mumbled, and lowered myself. I felt my cheeks get hot, and his eyes fell on me. His hand took mine.

"No…no…don't be…Angel, I'm sorry." I heard Collins say, I looked at him.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that…"

"Yes, you should have. It was me. I'm just, scared." He said softly, and sighed.

"I don't scare you, do I?" I asked him, frowning. I knew it. I freaked him out.

"No! No, of course you didn't scare me…my heart scares me." He admitted, and looked into my eyes. "I'm afraid of…well…I just haven't accepted of _it_ yet." He explained to me. "I'm afraid to get into something too deep and one of us getting hurt." He told me, and his face got close to mine. "I don't want to hurt you Angel." He whispered softly.

"You won't." I whispered back, and nuzzled my face towards his. "I don't think it's possible to hurt me." I told him, and held his arm. He didn't say anything, but he continued his gazed into my own, and I sat back up on my knees. "Now…let me clean you up, you still haven't taken your shirt off." I told him, and giggled. He shook his head.

"Alright, but I'm warning you…" He muttered, as if anything could possibly be wrong with his torso minus bruises and cuts. He was ever so wrong. When he took that shirt off, I almost died. Thank God I was wearing pants, because that boy…damn. Thank God he's clumsy and couldn't get his shirt off his head because he forgot to take his glasses off, because…well, I was staring like a ten year old in a sex class. Of course, when he finally got the shirt off, I had to giggle to cover up my drooling. I sat closer to him, and began to clean up a cut on his arm.

"How long had you been sitting there honey?" I asked him softly, trying to pay attention to the cut and not his abs. Or his chest. Or the rest of his arms. Or the fact that his pants would have to come off next. Angel. Shut up.

"Only for about…ten minutes I guess." He told me. I felt his eyes on me, but I didn't look up, because I would have died. "I don't know how long I would have lasted if you didn't come to get me." He told me, and I smiled.

"Well, I couldn't have left you out in the cold. It's getting dark…I didn't want you to be eaten by rats or anything." I told him, and finally got the courage to look up at his face, while reassigning my washcloth to his chest. "Glad I saw you." I told him, and realized how I did find him. Actually, I was originally running from him. This made me giggle lightly, and he looked at me curiously.

"What are you giggling about?" He asked me, and I smiled.

"Well, I was thinking about how I got to where you were." I told him, and that seemed to peek his interest. "You see, I was actually running for my own life." I told him and smiled. "I just came back from being a hit man, at the price of a dog's life for a thousand dollars." I explained, and smirked. His face was wild in confusion. "A woman in a limousine asked me if I could kill a dog for her, who had been barking nonstop for months now. She gave me a thousand dollars for it." I told him, and he looked at me for a second, and then laughed. I got a lot of relief, because while I was explaining my situation, I realized that what I had done was infact a horrible thing, even though I didn't mean to make a dog fall to its death.

"Oh my GOD, you're kidding right?" Collins asked me, laughing so hard, I thought it must hurt. I laughed with him.

"No, completely serious, and she wouldn't let me refuse. So, I'm a thousand bucks richer, and I intend to splurge every penny of it." I told him, and smiled. He just shook his head at me.

"You're truly a spectacle, Angel. You drum on the streets for a dollar a day and you don't seem to mind, you pick me, a complete and total stranger off the streets, bring me in and heal my wounds for nothing but company, and you finally get a grand, and you're just going to blow it." He said, and chuckled. "You're one of a kind Angel. On of a kind."

"Well, the list does infact continue, but you'll know about those kinds of things later. I want to know about you. You know too much about me." I told him and giggled. He sighed.

"There isn't much to tell." He told me, and I frowned.

"I bet there is. Tell me where you were before you came to visit your friends." I told him, and looked at him, barely paying attention to the cloth, or his chest, thank God.

"Well, I just got fired from my job at MIT." He told me, and smirked.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry…how did you get fired?" I asked, and then remembered, I needed to wash this boy up before he become anemic.

"Well, before I explain anything, I should tell you, I'm an anarchist." He said, and looked into my eyes. I smirked, I couldn't help it. I always thought anarchy was kind of a weird thing. Complete an utter chaos, but hey, I dressed like a woman everyday. If I could defy anatomy, he can defy government all he wanted. "And, I do infact, believe it or not, happen to be gay." All right, now, this made me snort. NO DUH TOM COLLINS. You're a flaming faggot, making me one lucky son of a bitch. "So, when administration found out about my being gay, they began to treat me differently. They would take out money from my department's budget, penalize me for small things, I even got a big pay cut, and they tried to cover it up, saying our student population was getting smaller. It was MIT for God's sake!" He said, as if he were trying to argue with me about it. I actually don't know a thing about MIT. I knew it was in Massachusetts, but I knew nothing else. "So, I set up the virtual reality equipment so at a set time, it will explode." He told me, and I giggled.

"You what?" I asked him. Why the hell would anyone do something like that?

"I rewired the equipment. That's just the kind of thing I do. Actually, when I was still on the streets…which I am," That made me incredibly sad. He didn't even have a home. "I made a living by rewiring ATMs for some spare cash." He told me, and my mouth opened wide. I laughed.

"No suh!" I said, and laughed.

"It's true. Never been caught though." He said, and smiled. "Anyway, I rewired the equipment to explode, and when it did, it would shout, 'Actual Reality, Act Up, Fight AIDS!'" I smiled at him. Wow, this boy was amazing. What a rebel, no wonder he was fired though. "So, they fired me. I had enough of it there anyway. I just didn't want to quit. You don't get unemployment if you quit." He said, and I laughed.

"You are the smartest guy I have ever met." I told him, and smiled, and then thought. "Then again…I don't know many people who know anything past make-up and clothes." I mumbled, and he chuckled. "So, you're here to visit your friends all the way from Massachusetts?" I asked him, and wrapped his other arms in a bandage.

"Yeah, New York is where I'm from. There's no hiding that." He told me, and relaxed under my hands. "Speaking of them, I should really meet up with them, they're probably worried sick about me." I frowned.

"I don't want you going alone, not so late." I told him. Truth was, I didn't want him to leave my apartment. Or my sight. He smiled at me.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go." Collins offered, and I smiled.

"Alright, but then I have to go straight to my Life Support meeting at 9:30." I told him, and he nodded.

"Where's that at?" He asked me.

"The elementary school a few blocks from here. You should go." I told him, and he nodded again, and sat foreword, thinking.

"This just might be the thing to get Roger off his ass." He mumbled a bit. I figured Roger was one of his friends.

"The more the merrier!" I told him, and smiled. "Well, you seem like you'll be set for a while. I'll go change, and then we can go to your friends' place, but before we do," I said and stood up. "Is go get those guys something nice and warm to eat." I told him, and Collins looked at me funny.

"You don't have to do that." He told me, and I shook my head.

"I know I don't. I want to. It's almost Christmas!" I told him. "Just an early Christmas present is all."

"But you don't even know them." He told me, and tried to stand, but I held him down.

"Just because I don't know them, doesn't mean they shouldn't get Christmas presents." I told him, and walked to my bedroom. "I should be right out, just make yourself comfortable, and if you want anything to eat or drink, the kitchen is yours for whatever you wish." I told him, and then stopped. I turned to face him, he was looking right at me. "But, don't use any of my appliances to create any explosions, please." I said, and he laughed.

"I'll leave that for electronics, just for you." He told me, and smiled. I laughed a bit, and walked to the bathroom. I turned the faucet on, and once the water was making noise against the walls around it, I jumped in the air and shrieked happily at the Christmas present sent to me this year, a lovely Tom Collins.


	3. A Box Of Cap'n Crunch Will Taste So Good

I knew I have been in the bathroom for way long than I said I would be. I was still putting the finishing touches on my outfit. Too bad he's so good looking, or I would have been quicker. I'm pretty sure I'm finished, and I look at myself in my mirror. Decked out in my little Mrs. Clause dress, with zebra print stockings, and knee high black boots, I'm pretty sure I was done. Those buckles on the boots took forever to do, so, they're to blame. My make-up wasn't too much, I don't think. Just rogue, cover-up and crimson lipstick. It could be a great deal worse. And, to top it all off, literally, my favorite wig, a black bob with a few flowers arranged on my bangs. I did a small twirl, just to make sure everything was in its place. I smiled at myself, and walked out of the bathroom, and looked at the sight on the couch. I could help but giggle.

Collins was still on my couch, but it seemed he had passed out or something. He looked like he was in a very heavy sleep, because the position he was in did not justify any kind of comfort in my eyes. I walked over to him, and smiled, kneeling down infront of his face. I placed his arm on his chest, since it had found its way to the floor, along with his leg. I pushed that up as well, but then realized I was wrong about how deep a sleep he was in. He groaned softly, and I looked at him. He opened his eyes, and looked at me, the person who was holding his legs at the moment. He looked me over for a second, and jumped, immediately standing, looking very shocked at me. I tensed up immediately, raised my hands, and stood up slowly. He continued to stare, looking at me.

"An-Angel…?" He asked hoarsely. "Is that you?" He asked, and I almost forgot I was in a dress. I nodded my head.

"Yes." I squeaked. He really did scare me a second ago. He continued to stare at me, and I felt a bit uncomfortable. "What?" I asked him. He shook his head, and walked over to me, still giving my body the stare down of its life.

"You…you look…" He said, and I saw him blush. I put my arms down, and smirked, looking into his eyes. My hands rested on my hips.

"Like a kinky Mrs. Santa Clause." I finished for him, and smirked, giving his stomach a light poke. He chuckled.

"Not exactly what I was going to say, but alright." He said, and smiled warmly at me.

"Oh?" I asked him, and gave a face of interest. "Then what were you going to say?" I asked him.

"Beautiful." He told me, and smiled. Now I was blushing. Good I had enough rogue on, now natural coloring? I probably looked like a Hispanic cherry. Although, I'm not sure what one of those looked like. Did they actually exist? They had to, I mean, not one cherry tree in all of Latin American? That's ridiculous-Angel. Shut up.

"Well, thank you." I told him, and smiled happily. "Well, we had better go soon, and get some food so we can get to your friends, and still have time to get to Life Support." I said, and took his hand. He chuckled.

"Can I put my shirt back on?" He asked me, and I sighed dramatically, and stomped my foot, hanging my head back.

"If you HAVE to." I groaned, and he cracked up. He let go of my hand, and took his shirt and sweater and put them on over his head. Once he was all set, he took my hand again, and we walked out of my apartment, and towards the elevator. Thank GOD no one was out this time. I lead him to the elevator, and he stepped in after me. I pressed the ground button, and the gate of the elevator closed. I turned to look at him. "So, what are your friends like?" I asked him, and he seemed very amused by this question.

"They're an interesting bunch I'll tell ya." He told me, and inched the back of his head. "There's Roger, first off. He's also an AIDS victim, got it from sharing needles with his dead girlfriend." He didn't give his friend's situation much emotion as it obviously deserved. I frowned, and held a hand to my chest.

"Oh my God, the poor dear…" I said softly.

"Yeah, but he's doing better. He just got out of rehab, he just needs to stop mopping around and get out of the loft before he dies of insanity." Collins said, and sighed, then smiled. "Then…then, there's Mark. He's a class A Jewish boy." He said, and laughed. "Blonde hair, dorky glasses, and a nagging mother. He's also got a knack for the camera, always tapping people, so you better watch yourself with that outfit." He told me, and I made a face.

"Oh shut up. You like it." I told him.

"I know I do, so will his goddamn camera." Collins admitted, and looked off. "His girlfriend, Maureen lives with them. She's one of a kind. She's loud, obnoxious, a flirt to anything with legs, and also an anarchist. She's a protester, and is very good at it."

"Hmmm…guess opposites do attract." I said to myself, but he heard me, and laughed.

"I have no idea how those two got involved, but they love each other, and I guess that's all that matters." He told me. "Then, there's my best friend, like since high school best friend, Benny. He's a laid back guy, doesn't seem to be threatened by anyone else. Never gotten pissed at any of us because of our stupid little fights. You'd like his a lot." He said, and smiled.

"Yeah, but he's probably straight, and you're probably way cuter." I told him, and the elevator opened up, so I walked out, a proud satisfied smile on my face. He walked behind me, and caught up to my side, and took my hand.

"You m'lady are something else." He whispered to me, and I laughed.

"I try my best to be." I told him and smiled, walking out of my apartment building with him. The cold air hit us, and he was immediately affected by it. I looked up at him, shivering a bit. "I'm going to need to get you a new coat." I said, and laughed.

"I think I'll live." He said, but I knew he needed one. He looked down at me. "You should think of yourself, what's covering up those legs of yours?" I asked me, and I looked down.

"Stockings and boots." I answer, and smiled. "Don't worry about me, I'm sweating under here." I said, and laughed. "The store's just down this block here, and I'll buy you something nice and warm to drink." I told him, and rubbed his arm carefully. He smiled warmly at me.

"You're wonderful." He told me softly, and I held his arm as we walked to the store. I looked down at my feet, just think about everything that had happened today. I'm pretty sure after all of that, I can count on a very boring week. Hopefully Collins would stay with me, or at least come over after he settled with his friends. I lead him into a turn, and across the street. There was a corner store, and I walked into it with him. The little bell thing rang, and I looked around, and faced him.

"Now, just pick out whatever you think your friends will like, and tell me when you're done." I told him, and smiled. "I need to pick up a few things for myself, I haven't had the chance yet." I explained, and then smirked. "Not like I'm complaining." I said, and giggled, walking off. He chased after me, and grabbed my shoulder, turning me around to face him.

"Wait, Angel…I…I don't feel right just taking your money." He told me, and sighed. I looked into his brown eyes.

"Well, then just pretend it's your own money." I told him, and shook his head.

"That's not much better, since I've never actually shopped before for anything in my entire life." He explained, and I laughed.

"Fine, then, I'll ask you some things about your friends, and I'll get what I think you guys need. Then, it won't be so weird." I offered. He looked at me, and rolled his eyes upward, thinking about it.

"Fine." He said softly, and I grinned.

"Good, now…does Mark like sweat or salty snacks?" I asked him.

"Anything that's not pork." He told me, and I laughed.

"Well, he'll be easy." I said, and placed a finger to my lips, thinking. "Hmm…well, something Kosher…hmm…I'm not sure if I eat anything along those lines." I mumbled, and a little light bulb went off in my head. I grinned, and clapped my hands. "Ah, the perfect meal for the bachelors." I smirked, and handed Collins my pickle tub, which was actually a part of my body, by the way. He took it, and I proceeded to walk down the aisle. He followed me, but didn't say anything this time. I looked around the aisle, until I saw the box that I wanted. I took it, and threw it at Collins. "Catch." I told him, and he held up my pickle tub, and of course, the box went in without worry. Collins smirked at me.

"Trying to pull a fast one on me huh?" He asked, and smiled, I just looked up, trying to look innocent. Trying to hit him? Of course not! Trying to get those big arms around my waist? Um…yes. He chuckled, and looked into the pickle tub, and his small chuckle turned into a grateful laugh. "Oh my God! You picked Roger's favorite food." He told me, and grinned. "Cap'n Crunch…my God Angel." He said, and continued to laugh. I grinned at him.

"So, am I any good at this?" I asked him, and he looked at me from the box, and nodded.

"The very best." He said, and smiled. I jumped happily, and clapped.

"Good, now I guess that means milk." I said, and smiled, walking down the aisle again, and too a fridge/freezer combo at the very edge of the store. "Anything special about their milk preferences?" I asked him, and bent down, looking at the different milks, 1, 2, low fat, skim, and whole. It took him a second to answer.

"Well…the lower the fat intake the healthier, but those two are the skinniest white boys you'll ever meet, so whole. Please." He said, and I laughed.

"Alright, sounds good." I said, and opened the door, taking the red carton, and closed to door. I snapped right up, and spun around to face him. He was looking down. What the hell was he looking at? He only had his eyes down for a second and they snapped back to his face, and then proceeded to blush. Oh my God. He totally was just staring at my-Holy shit. No…no he totally wasn't. Yes, he must have been! Oh my God. I've got a horny little boy on my hands. I just looked up at him, giving him my sexiest little smirk I could give. He looked at me funny, trying to cover up his little incident. I was making him nervous. I wanted that to happen.

"What?" He asked me, and I stepped closer to him, still just smirking. He took a step back as I stepped closer.

"You know what." I told him, very softly, taking another step closer, and he backed off a bit again.

"No…I don't." He told me, and we played this little game for a moment or two, until I had him backed against the canned food shelves. He just looked down at me, and I looked up at him. Then, I simply dropped the milk into my pickle tub, which he was holding, and the weight surprised him, and almost made him fall. I looked down at him, as he regained control of his balance.

"You're such a silly boy." I smirked, and began to walk back to the warmer side of the store. I turned to look at him. I wanted to see if he was staring again, but he was innocent this time. His face was so pathetic, and I felt bad for freaking him out like that, so I giggled. "Well, come on Collins, food won't buy itself, now will it? If it did, I'd be a total fat ass." I told him, and he smiled again.

"Like that's possible." He told me, and walked over to me. I laughed, and hit his arm playfully. I took it carefully in my own, and then took his hand in mine, and walked to find anything else.


	4. When I Look Into Your Eyes

This time, he led the way, considering, I didn't know his friends, ergo; I don't know where they live. Simple logic. He led me to a block I had been to before; it wasn't too far from my own building. He walked me to the door, and smiled.

"Now…you might want to take those shoes of yours off, it's a long way up, and they don't have a elevator." He warned me, and I snorted.

"Absolutely not." I told him simply, and he raised an eyebrow. "I'm not about to give up my good looks so my feet can feel good, no way." I told him, and he just shook his head.

"Well, in that case, I'm going to have to carry you." He said, and went to grab around my waist, and I squealed, jumping from him, getting closer to the stairs. Collins advanced on me, and I just laughed, running from him. He was such a flirt. I couldn't help but continue the fire. He chased after me, laughing, and I just kept running, stopping ever so often, so he would be able to keep up with me, considering he was such a gentleman and insisted on holding my pickle tub, which was full of the groceries. He was very fast for holding about sixty pounds in one hand.

"You'll never be able to catch me!" I called to him, and giggled as his hand came very close to my skirt. He looked at me, and grinned.

"You can't tell me you don't want me to catch you." He said haughtily, and I gave him a very ladyfish 'hmph!'. He just chuckled. "Now, come on Angel! You don't even know where you're going!"

"I don't have to know. I'll just go to the top floor like you said it was at, and knock on all of the doors." I said, and laughed, and I could have paid all of my money to see the face he gave me again. It was of absolute horror.

"Angel, don't seriously, there are some people here who do…" I wasn't going to let him finish.

"Well, then, you're just going to have to catch me before I do it." I said, and began to run off again.

"Angel, no!" He shouted after me, and began running faster than before. That's not good. I finally reached the top flight, and he was only a few feet behind me. I raced to the first door, but before I could even lift my fist to knock on it, he grabbed me by the waist and I certainly didn't expect it. I screamed, and he covered my mouth with his hand to silence me. I stopped, and looked at him. He took his hand from my mouth, and loosened his grip on my waist. I faced him, he was still holding me.

"Alright, so you caught me." I said smugly, and he laughed.

"Where on earth did you come from Angel?" He asked me, smiling a smile that made me feel lucky I was in his arms.

"Puerto Rico?" I asked, as if he knew. He just laughed again, and I grinned. He looked down into my eyes, and we stood in the hallway, silent for a few blissful seconds, just staring. He cleared his throat, obviously getting nervous again, and let go of me. I almost fell. Asshole.

"Well, we should get going so they stop worrying about me, and so we can get to that meeting." He said, and picked up my pickle tub. I nodded. He took my hand, and walked me all the way down the hallway to a very large door. This apartment was not doing too well. It looked like it could second for a factory. "Now," he said as he turned to me. "You wait out here while I tell them about you. Then, you may make a grand entrance." He told me, and I laughed.

"Sounds good, but don't be too long, or I'll just up and leave." I lied. I would stand here waiting for him for as long as it took. He chuckled.

"You better not, I would kill myself if I had lost you." He smiled, and opened the large bolted door, and walked in, leaving me to wait for a while. I stared at the door, as if he were still there.

"You've already won me." I muttered, knowing he couldn't hear me.


	5. You'll See Or You'll Pack

I had gotten my money out of my boot, and sorted it evenly. I would give both men in there one hundred dollars. My friend Mimi lived in this apartment, and her old boyfriend was now the owner of this place, and wasn't such a sweetie when it came to tolerance on rent. I figured they could use some money. I heard Collins, but I didn't know what he was saying. I knew he was near the door. He opened it for me, and I looked out into the room. It was huge, but empty and cold. I saw Collins out of the corner of my eye.

"Guys, this is Angel Dumott Schunard." He said, and I did a little spin into the room. I smirked, and looked at the two souls in the room. There was a blonde boy with glasses in the chair. He had an old fashion video camera in his hands. That must have been Mark. The other had long brown hair, sitting in sweats. Due to the gruffness of his being, and the property of duh, this must have been Roger. Collins sat down next to Mark, as if I was going to perform a ballet for them or something. Well, they did have a support pole. It would be very hard to get these boots off quickly-Angel. Shut up.

"Since when did you start dating girls Collins?" Mark asked, trying to whisper, but failed miserably. I couldn't help but giggle. Oh straight man bliss. Roger walked over to Mark and hit on the back of the head. Collins just groaned. "What?" He asked, and I just smiled, walking over to the three of them, and sat inbetween Collins and Mark. He looked at me closely, and caught close sight of my wig, and his eyes got all big. "Oh…" He said, and I laughed again.

"Oh, Angel, thanks for the food. You really didn't have to do that. If there's anyway we could repay you, just tell us." Roger told me, and sat next to Collins. I just shrugged, and took the two hundred dollars from my belt, and gave them a hundred each.

"Today for you darlings, tomorrow for me." I said simply, and Mark almost died, I'm pretty sure.

"But we certainly can't…"

"Of course you can sweetie, just put it in your pocket." I told him, and scruffed up his hair a bit.

"But how are you getting all this money? Not from the streets." Mark told me, and I smirked.

"That's where you're wrong." I told him, and stood up. I stood infront of them, like before, and smirked. "You see this morning I was 'working', you know, extra cash, that sort of thing, when a lady in a limousine drove up to me and told me this horrid story of her neighbor's dog. Se told me she hadn't slept in a year because of it's barking, so he asked me to drum until it shut up. Little did I know, it would jump to its death. So, she paid me a thousand dollars for getting rid of that Akita Evita." I told them, and then smirked. "That's when I found this little sweetheart moaning and groaning in the alleyway." I said, pointing to Collins, and Roger gave a laugh. "So, of course, I took the role of nurse, and bandaged those wounds right up, getting him back on his feet and over here." Mark gave me a look when I was finished.

"So, let me get this straight, you killed a dog for a thousand dollars, and then spent it on two…three strangers?" He asked me, and I nodded, walking back to my spot and sat down. "Wow, you're something." He said, and smiled.

"But I would only say two strangers." I corrected after Collins wrapped his arm around me. Roger lifted an eyebrow.

"Why only two?" He asked me, and looked at Mark.

"Well, I couldn't quite call Collins a stranger." I giggled, and Roger snorted. Mark looked at Collins.

"Really now?" Roger asked, and I could feel Collins get all hot. I looked at him, and playfully snuggled up to him. I heard Roger start laughing, and Mark whistle.

"Well, I guess you've changed a tad since we last saw you." Mark said, and laughed with Roger. Collins sighed, and rolled his eyes, and I felt them on me.

"You are in so much trouble." He said, and I just giggled. He knew I was playing. "Don't hold your breath guys, she's just being a tease." He told them, and I pouted.

"Oh, well, then fine, we won't think you're a god for scoring first night back." Roger smirked.

"Hey, come on, we've only known each other for a few hours." Collins said defensively.

"Oh, so then, maybe later on tonight." Roger instigated, and Collins groaned.

"No, that's not what I meant…"

"Oh, you you're just going to leave her hanging."

"No, Jesus Roger, would you shut up."

"Um, you're the bastard who can't make a girl happy."

"Roger!"

"Hey, I'm just saying…" But their bickering ended when the door opened. A man walked into the room, a piece of paper in his hand, Benny. Mimi's old boyfriend. I scowled, but he didn't see me, which was weird. Collins immediately stood up, and walked over to Benny, and hugged him.

"COLLINS!" Benny said happily, and hugged Collins tight.

"Oh man Benny! I've missed you!" He laughed, and let go. "Where the hell have you been?" He asked, referring to Benny's clothing.

"Hey, me and Alison are married now, and so I own this very building!" He said happily and proudly, and Collins looked at him in shock.

"Man Benny, congratulations big guy. Maybe I can finally get myself a place around here." He said, and Mark cleared his throat.

"Yeah, good friggin' luck with that." He said with poison in his voice. "Collins, you're now talking to Benjamin Coffin III of the Westport Greys, not Benny." He grumbled.

"The same man who shut off our power this evening." Roger added, and Benny looked at both of them.

"Guys, come on, you know I can't just GIVE things away, and I've got a deal to make with you…" His eyes landed on me. I was sitting there with my arms crossed, staring him down. He looked back at me. "Angel…?" He asked, and I stood up.

"That's right." I said, and walked over to him. He eyed me, and then looked at Roger and Mark.

"Looks like you two settled in with a nice hussy drag bitch." Benny said, and looked back at me. I reared back, narrowing my eyes. Oh no he did not. It took three men to keep me from lunging at Benny, and finally just Collins grabbed me.

"Angel, go sit down on the couch." He said softly to me, but I kept my eyes on Benny. I walked back to the couch, and fixed my hair.

"Oh…" Benny muttered, realizing what he said earlier was dumb, considering I wasn't friends with Mark and Roger just yet, I was with Collins. Collins looked at Benny, now looking kind of pissed. Call me selfish, but I liked that. He was being protective of me.

"What did you come here for Benny?" Collins asked him, and Roger and Mark answered with Benny.

"The rent." They all said, and I smirked. No duh.

"You're wasting your time." Mark told him.

"We are broke, and you know that." Roger told him.

"There is a little deal I've made up so that you won't have to pay." Benny told them.

"Here we go!" Roger said, angrily, and sat down next to me.

"Well, since I own this building, I decided that I want to use the unused part to create a cyber stud…"

"Yeah, we know." Mark interrupted.

"So, I figured that if you two not only wanted to live here for free, AND be able to work in a studio of our own, all you would have to do is convince Maureen to cancel her protest tonight." Benny said, and Collins looked at both Roger and Mark. Mark just stared at Benny.

"And how do you supposed I do that?" Mark asked Benny.

"Well, I figure that a boyfriend would have some say over his girlfriend's life." Benny told him, and Mark backed down. Roger snorted.

"Yeah, so, Mark doesn't." Collins turned around at Roger's comment.

"What?" He asked, and Roger smirked with pride.

"Maureen dumped him." Roger said, and my heart sunk. Poor Mark. Collins and Benny both looked at Mark in shock.

"Maureen dumped you?" Collins asked him, frowning.

"It gets better, wait!" Roger said, laughing. Mark groaned, and blushed, covering his face in his hands, and sat back down in the chair. "Maureen dumped him, because she was cheating on him." Collins made a face.

"She was cheating on you? Who was he?"

"JOANNE!" Roger said, and cracked up. It took a whole two seconds for me to get it, and when I did, I hand to bite my hand to keep from laughing. Benny chuckled, trying to keep it in. Collins stared at the purple Mark.

"Damn." Collins muttered.

"Yeah, so…can we not talk about that?" Mark asked awkwardly. Benny slowly stopped chuckling.

"Well, keep thinking on my offer, and if you don't comply, start packing." He said, and walked out the door, shutting it. I stared at the door.

"One of these days, I'm just gunna spill a whole pound of Prozac in that boy's tea." I huffed. "Then we'll really see who the psycho bitch is." Mark sighed, and looked at the window. Collins followed Mark's eyes, and saw how dark it was.

"Oh, crap, hey, before it gets any later, Angel and I were going to go to a Life Support meeting tonight. You can come if you want." Collins said, and directed the last part to Roger.

"It's not that long of a meeting, just an hour." I said, and looked at Roger.

"Well, I've got to save a protest. I'll swing by after." Mark said, and Collins looked up.

"Don't you mean end one?" He asked.

"No, save. I don't want to talk about it." Mark said, picking up his camera, and putting a scarf around his neck. "I'll see you guys soon, nice meeting you Angel."

"You too." I said, and smiled, waving at him. I turned to Roger next to me. "What about you Roger? You gunna join us?" Roger just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because that'll make for a happy trip." He muttered.

"Roger, don't be such an ass." Mark said harshly, and Roger just scowled. I frowned, looking from either man.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see to it to come. It's not as bad as you think." I told him softly, and stood up as Mark left. Collins stood up with me.

"We'll hopefully see BOTH of you there." He said, and gave Roger's shin a kick. I giggled, and Collins began out the door, and I could help but wave at the two left, and skip over to Collins, who was tugging my hand. He was pulling me out the door, and shut it behind us. I had just enough strength to take my pickle tub. I looked at him, and took my arm from his hand.

"What's gotten into your ass?" I asked him, wondering why he was so anxious to leave. He turned to face me.

"Well, you apparently." Collins looked at me, and I rolled my eyes. Oh don't tell me he's a sour puss.

"Come on Collins." I said, and took a step closer to him. "Don't be like that, you know I was just kidding, and they did too." I said, and he sighed.

"I know, I know, but please, it's just…to those guys, I'm just they old gay black friend." Collins told me, and took my hands. "And this isn't something they're used to." He said, looking into my eyes. "It's not something I'm used to either." He said, and looked from my eyes to his own. I frowned, feeling very guilty. I didn't know he was so shy. He seemed fine around me, but I guess not with his friends, which is weird, because they seem very...well, neither of them looked fit to be shy around. I looked up at his face still, even if he wasn't looking at me.

"Oh, Collins, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I told him softly. "I didn't know that's how it was between you guys. Don't worry sweetie," I told him, and lifted his chin so he faced me. "I'll be nice and humble." I told him, and he smiled.

"Thank you Angel." He told me, flashing me a gorgeous smile. Dammit boy, stop that, or I'll break my promise about being humble.

"Around them." I added quickly, and tore off for the stairs before he could add another word.

"Hey!" I heard him call out. "Don't make me catch you again!" He shouted, and I turned to face him, my hands gripping the railing of the stairs, and I rocked, looking like I was going to charge after him.

"You don't need to." I said, and ran back down the stairs from him.


	6. I Should Have Died Three Years Ago

Collins had loosened up by the time we left the apartment building. I was really worried that I annoyed him, but he didn't seem to be that angry, considering he was either holding my hand, or holding my waist the entire way up to the life support meeting. We talked, yes of course we talked. Alright, so he talked the whole time, because I had no idea what it was about. He talked about Philosophy and all that. You know, that's one thing I could never understand. These people worry and question too much. That's probably how Socrates died. He was murdered because he annoyed the living hell out of someone so much that they just hit him until he died. If that's not a story with morals, I don't know what is.

However, I never said that to him. No no, see, I wasn't about to bash his way of living, because he probably thought the same of mine. He lived to question life; I lived to just…live life. I guess that means had felt like he had more of a purpose in life. I never felt empty, but it sounds like something I could try. He asked me at least five times if he was boring me, or babbling, I just giggled, and shook my head. I liked hearing him talk. He had a very interesting life. I mean, if running through the Parthenon NAKED isn't interesting, shoot me. Ha, wait until I tell my brother. He thought he was cool for running through a high school football game naked.

We finally got to the school where the meeting was taken place. He looked at me, and hesitated going into the building. I looked up at him.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked him. He looked at the ground.

"Have you gone to these yet?" He asked me, and I smiled. He was nervous.

"I've been to a few before, but they've all been different." I told him, and took one of his cold hands in mine. "I've just been a bit…lost lately." I admitted, and he looked at me, sighing out, in relief I hope.

"Are they…awkward?" He asked me, and I giggled lightly, tugging his hand so we could get inside, so I wouldn't freeze my ass off.

"Well, it's a bit too late for you to be so worried." I told him, practically playing tug-of-war with his arms. I groaned, he was a lot bigger than me, and this was hard. "Oh come on. I promise you, after this, we'll have a nice warm dinner and-…"

"Actually Angel, I was wondering if you would like to go to Maureen's protest tonight at the lot? We're all going out to dinner at the Life Café right afterwards." He said softly, and I could see his face redden. I giggled, and smiled at him.

"That sounds lovely." I told him, and he grinned up at me. "BUT, only if you come on in before I get pneumonia!" I told him, and tugged on his arm again, and this time he followed. I led him inside, and he stepped to my side, and took my hand. We were silent as I walked us to the room where the meeting was being held in. I hoped the group would be small this time. It seemed pointless if it were large, and I also hoped there wasn't such a large population of people with AIDS around this location. I led him into the room. There were six people already in there. I sighed out; happy it would be a closer crowd, even though everyone looked as thought this was there last day on earth. Collins tensed up a bit, and I couldn't blame him. I nudged him inside, and a few people looked at us, and I smiled at them. Hopefully try and bring some happiness in here. "Come on, let's get a chair and sit." I told Collins, and he sighed, grabbing chairs for the both of us.

"Well, new arrivals." One man said, with a pathetic smile. His voice was soft and tender. He had a clipboard in his hands, so I figured he was the foreman, or whatever you called it. "I guess we should start soon, so you can all get home to be with your families or friends." He said, and I looked around the room. No one really seemed to be okay with what he had just said. Some obviously didn't have either one of those things to spend time with. I frowned, and felt very lucky. I just met a lot of new friends, and had my Mimi to spend tomorrow and tonight with. But most of all, I had Collins, who immediately took my hand, as if he read my mind. "Let's go around the room and start with our names. You can start." He said to a man sitting on the other side of him. The man looked very scared, but he nodded.

"Steve."

"Gordon."

"Ali."

"Pam."

"Sue." And then it got to me. I figured just my name was going to suffice. I put on a smile, and looked around the room.

"Hi, I'm Angel." I said, and took Collins's hand in my lap, and looked at him. He was staring at the others.

"Tom…Collins." He said a bit shakily, so I squeezed his hand to reassure him.

"And I'm Paul, why don't we begin?" The head leader man said. "Now, does any-…" He didn't get to finish, because behind me there was a banging sound. I turned around with Collins, and there was Mark. OH! He made it! What a sweetie, but obviously a klutz. I giggled, and waved at him. He turned deep red. "Oh, another new face. Welcome, what's you name?" Paul asked Mark, and Mark made an uneasy face.

"Oh! I'm not…I just...I'm sorry, I'm with…" He mumbled, pointing to Collins and me. "I-I-Mark, I'm Mark."

"Well, sit down Mark, make yourself comfortable." Paul said softly.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could record this meeting tonight. I'm doing a documentary on raw life in New York…and well, I would like to know if any of you minded…?" He asked, and I looked up at him. There it was, the camera again.

"Not at all Mark, that should be fine." Paul told him, and Mark smiled a bit, and walked to the other side of the room, his camera facing Collins and me. "Now, let's begin. Would anyone like to start?" He asked, and everyone sort of looked away from him. Gordon seemed to be a bit nervous. His leg was shaking rapidly. Paul saw him. "Gordon, how about you?" He asked, and Gordon looked up. "You seem very nervous tonight."

"Well, of course I am." Gordon said shyly, and Paul just looked at him, telling him to go on with his facial expression. "I found out that my t-cells are low today. I'm…well, afraid…okay?" He said, but the 'okay?' at the end kind of irked me. As if this boy needed to ask permission to be afraid of dying. Poor dear.

"Alright." Paul said simply. "Now, tell us how you feel today."

"Okay." Gordon said, kind of oddly.

"That's the most vague expression I've heard in a while. Are you sure you're just okay?" Paul asked, wanted to get more out Gordon.

"It's the best I felt all year to tell you the truth." Gordon said, and smirked. This made me smile. I felt Collins nudge me, and I looked up at him. He must have been thinking the same as me.

"Then why choose fear Gordon, if life is going so well today?" Paul asked him.

"I'm a New Yorker." Gordon said without missing a beat. "Fear's my life." I couldn't help but laugh, and I heard chuckles all around the room. Finally, some comforting laughter. Gordon smiled, and looked at his hands, which were linked together in his lap. "Look, I just find these philosophies suspicious. I'm just so used to relying on my doctor, and he can't help me anymore than give me ATZ now. But, I guess now in this stage, I have no choice but to open my mind to things that…I don't even know." He said, and a fake almost forced smile crept his face. I could see he was holding back tears. "Why do you believe that Gordon?" Paul asked him softly.

"Because…if I don't live my days like they're my last…I just have the doctor's deadlines. Those deadlines say that…" He said, and sniffed. "…That I should have died three years ago."

And it was what was in that little speech Gordon gave that made Collins cry, and hold my hand tight. It was what he said that made Mark put his camera down. It was what he said, that made my heart melt, and my face drop.


	7. We'll Open Up a Restaurant in Santa Fe

The meeting had gotten friendlier, but I couldn't seem to forget what Gordon had said at the beginning of it. I was walking down the streets with Mark and Collins, thinking about it, which they caught up. I was in another world, until I heard a few cops hustling up a homeless woman on the street. Mark smirked at Collins, and brought his camera up to his glasses, aiming at the cops.

"Smile for Ted Coppell, Officer Martin." Mark said proudly, and the cops grumbled. Mark stayed with his camera rolling, until the cops left the woman alone. Mark watched them leave, and just because he was Mark, I suppose, he continued to film the old woman. I could have told him it was dumb to do that, but she let him know.

"Who the FUCK do you think you are?" She yelled at him.

"I-I'm just-…" Mark stuttered, not expecting that.

"I don't need any goddamn help from some…some bleeding heart camera man. What do you think? My life's something you can just make a few bucks over!" She shrieked, making Mark almost fall back. I stepped forward. Alright, Mark was dumb to do that, but she was going a tad far as well.

"Easy sugar, easy, he was just trying to…" I started, but she just jumped.

"Just trying to us me to kill his guilt is what he's TRYING to do. It ain't that kind of movie…" She looked me up and down, and I felt Collins get closer to me. "…Honey." She mumbled, and turned to leave. "This lot is full of mother-fucker artists!" She screamed.

"Hey!" Collins shouted, ad I looked at him a bit freaked out. Mark had the same face. Obviously, Mark had never seen him get like this. "You can't just say those kinds of things!"

"Oh really?" She asked, turning back to us, and looked at us for a second. "You got a dollar, artists?" All three of us looked at each other. I had about nine hundred and fifty dollars in my boot, but I wasn't about to just hand it over. "I thought not." She grumbled, and walked off. Collins sighed, and looked at me, taking my hand. I looked at Mark, and I took his hand. He seemed down now. Apparently nothing like that had ever happened. No wonder he liked that camera so much. I thought of a way to cheer him up.

"New York City, the center of the universe." I mumbled, and Collins, smirked.

"Say it girl." He said, and chuckled.

"Times might be shitty sweetheart, but trust me, they can't get worse."

"Yeah, I hear ya." Mark mumbled, still looking at the ground as we walked.

"It's comforting to know, that when you singing the hit the roads blues, that anywhere else you could possibly go after New York would be…" I said melodiously, and banged my drum to a beat, letting go of both, and stood infront of them, facing them. "…A pleasure cruise." I said, and smirked, continuing my drumming. Collins laughed again.

"Now you're talking Angel." Collins said, and grinned. "I have been so down and out, trying to figure out life, while trying to figure out what my students scribbled on their term papers. I feel myself shouting in my sleep some nights. I think I need a muzzle." He said, and I giggled, still banging on my drum. He jumped on a stoop, and Mark got his camera back out. "And this misery isn't paying me nothing, so I have formulated a plan sometime ago, about what I want to do when I get the chance." He said, and jumped on the railing, sliding on the ice, and landing on his feet like a cat. My heart skipped five beats. I counted. I thought I was going to die.

"What's that?" Mark asked behind the camera, chuckling. Collins smirked, and wrapped either arm around the both of us, and hugged up close.

"I want to open a restaurant up in Santa Fe." He said, and smirked. I looked up at him, and smiled. Then something clicked.

"Wait…wait, you're a teacher?" I asked, and stopped drumming. He laughed, and Mark rolled his eyes.

"Tell me this is just a slow day for you Angel." He said, and now he walked infront of Collins and me. I stuck out my tongue, and then smiled sweetly. I was on camera. Wanted to look my best.

"Yes, I teach computer age philosophy." He said, and sighed. I looked at him curiously.

"But I thought you loved philosophy." I said.

"Oh, I LOVE it, don't get me wrong Ang', I just…the kids are just…idiots. They'd rather watch TV all day." He muttered, and frowned.

"Ha! America." I said, and smirked sarcastically. Mark nodded in agreement.

"Sensitive and over protected. Liars, all of them. That's why it would be so easy to open something up. We'll just make everything sparkle, and look nice." He said, and smiled, I made a face at him.

"Oh really?" I asked.

"Yes really." He told me, and smiled. "You my lovely lady, can drum gently and soothingly, entertaining our guests, and I will play as a maitre d'." He explained, and I giggled.

"Oh, so now I'm part of this too?" I asked him, and he wrapped an arm around my waist, grinning that heart-melting grin again.

"Yes my dear." He said very simply. I couldn't help but giggle. Not just because he was being ridiculous, but because he was melting my heart, and my legs. We continued to walk, and he just glowed. "Yeah, Santa Fe, that's where it's at my friends." He said softly, and I couldn't help but laugh, as we began to walk towards the lot. Mark looked at his watch.

"Hey, you guys go on without me. I'm going to go and get Roger, see if I can finally get him outside." Mark said, and smiled, waving to us as he left. I waved back, and looked up at Collins. His eyes were still on Mark and he shook his head. I took a nice big breath of a crisp night air.

"Alone at last." I said, and he looked at me. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but don't hold your breath, he'll be back very soon, I know it." He said, and laughed. I smiled at him, and swung our woven hands back and forth happily.

"You're probably going to think this is silly, but I have been hearing violins all night." I said, blushing gently. He smiled bashfully, and chuckled.

"Does it have anything to do with me?" He asked, and I just giggled, holding my free hand to my mouth. He was too sweet. Of course it had to do with him. It wasn't about Mark, that's for sure. "So…Angel, after these few hours of knowing you, I'd like to know something else." He said, still giving me an adorable smile that just melted me. "Are we a thing?" He asked, and I smiled confidently.

"Darling, we're _every_thing." I told him, and stood close to him. He smiled, and wrapped his free fingers in mine. "And then some baby, don't you worry." I told him, and he leaned his forehead on mine. He was freezing. I let go of his hands, and felt his freezing cheeks. "Darling, you're as cold as death." I told him.

"Yeah, and it won't be any better at Mark and Roger's." He said, and smirked.

"Really?" I asked him, placing my warmer palms on his colder cheeks to warm them up a bit. "Well, it would do me a great deal of relief if you stayed with me at my place. It's relatively warm there." I told him, and grinned. He placed his hands on my waist, smiling.

"If you open your door, I can assure you I'll be there." He told me softly, looking into my eyes. "I don't have much money, but I'm getting a teaching gi-…" I placed one of my fingers on his lips to silence him.

"Shh…I don't care about money." I told him softly. "You go as slow paced as you need to sweetie." I said, and removed my fingers from his lips. "All I need in return for room and board is sweet kisses." I told him, and he grinned.

"Sweet kisses I've got to spare Angel, trust me." Collins said, and took one of my hands in his, and danced with me slowly. "I'll be there for you, I'll help you, if you love me." He said, barely a whisper. It sent shivers down my spine. I bit my lip, looking at his face, and looked at his brown eyes with my own. He was sincere. He leaned down closer to by face, and when our lips were half a centimeter apart, I closed my eyes, and he gave me a kiss that made me forget all the other kisses I've ever had. He held my face to his softly, his thumbs massaging my cheeks very softly, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I was almost afraid of giving this kiss a break. It was so soft and loving. Not rough and crazy like…well, I confess, how I wanted it to be, but I liked it like this. It took every single fiber in my being to not melt like ice cream.


	8. I Gotta Get Out of Here

Our kiss lasted over a minute or two, but it felt shorter when we separated. I wanted more than anything to attach myself back to him almost immediately. I had fallen for him, and I didn't know whether I liked that or not. I mean, we both had AIDS; we were going to die sooner than our supposed time. But, that was more of a reason to stay together. We were going to die. We should take life by the collar, and pull it until it heeled. Right now, I wanted Collins, who insisted I called him Tom, and I grabbed him. Needless to say, he didn't put up any sort of a fight. We walked, hand in hand, as slow as we could. I suppose that was nice, because he was staring at me the entire walk, and I didn't want him to trip over himself. We passed a few venders for the homeless, and I saw a nice display of coats. Tom was still freezing his ass off, and I couldn't have him freeze anymore than trip because he was staring at me. The woman behind the table smiled happily, showing me a fine fur trench coat she stole. Tom took my arm, and looked into my eyes, smirked.

"What are you doing?" He asked me softly. "These are hardly anything I'd expect you to wear." He said, and took my arm and showed the vibrant fabric to me. I didn't even look at it. I just gave him a giggle. "What?" He asked me.

"Mister Tom Collins, I am NOT buying a coat for myself. I'm perfectly warm." I told him, and grinned. "You on the other hand are freezing." I said, and he held me close.

"You're keeping me perfectly warm." He said sweetly, and I melted. He kissed me sweetly, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I let go and looked into his eyes.

"Now, come on, let's get you something warm to wear." I said, and led him over to the table, but he stopped.

"Angel, you don't have to do this." He said, and I frowned, looking at him. I put my hand on my hip and gave him a stubborn look.

"Oh hush your mouth, it's Christmas!" I told him, and looked at the table, where the coats were.

"Angel, all you do is give. There has to be something that I can make up for it." He said, and as I picked up a leather trench coat, I looked at him, smiling.

"There is something you can do." I told him, and grinned.

"What?" He asked me.

"You try this on." I said, and he laughed, taking the coat, and putting it over his shoulders, and did a little spin for me. I giggled happily. "It looks so good on you!" I said happily. "Is it warm?" I asked.

"Yes, it is very warm." He said, the smile not leaving his face. It gave me so much satisfaction that I could do that for him, because I know he couldn't do it for himself. He was warm and happy, and that's really all I needed, sort of. He looked from himself to me, and held my face in his hands. "Anything else my Angel?" He asked, almost pleading. I grinned.

"Kiss me." I requested, and placed my hands on his chest, and he leaned down to meet my face, and give me a kiss that melted the snow around me. I didn't need a coat. I needed him. He placed his hands on my shoulders, holding me closer to him, getting a more secure grip on where I was. I let go of him slowly, and looked into his eyes. "Thank you." I whispered, and gave him one last kiss. He looked at me sincerely.

"For what?" He asked me, and caressed my cheek, which I immediately nuzzled up to, and held in my hands.

"Love." I told him softly, and kissed his hand. He smiled, and looked up over my shoulder. I wondered what he was looking at, and heard a coughing behind me. I turned around in his arms. The vender woman was standing there with her hand extended. I suppose it would be proper to pay someone for another item. Seems reasonable I think. I giggled, and opened my shoe a bit, and took a ten and a five from the bundle. "This should cover us." I told her. She snatched the money, making me jump a bit. She looked the money over, as if it were paper with crayon on it. After a moment, she smiled, and placed the money in her pocket, and walked back to her table. "Merry Christmas." I offered, and heard Tom's chuckle, and he tugged my arm.

"Come on Angel, let's get to that protest." He told me, and I walked with him, as his fingers slid to weave into mine. I stood close to him, and he picked up his pace a bit more than before, because he wasn't staring at me like before. He squeezed my hand every so often when we didn't speak.

"So…You're from Boston." I stated, swinging our arms a bit. "Is it different up there?" I asked him, looking at my feet. He chuckled, and shrugged.

"Yeah, depending where you are. Beantown is big. It's got itself a little country kind of place. Sweet campus kind of place, you know? Where all the richest WASPs live." He said, and I laughed. "But, then there are places like Chinatown, where the theatre district is, Greater Boston Area, where it's like New York. There aren't so many buildings though, or taxi's." He said, and shrugged. "But, New York has the Bronx, so nothing can compare to that." He said, and I continued to crack up.

"No slums in Boston?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"Oh yeah, just not ones where you have to where armor to be safe in." He explained, and I snorted, having to hold my nose in embarrassment. I'd like to visit Boston one day.

"So, where did you work?" I asked him.

"MIT…Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Good place to go to school, but the campus isn't in the most pleasant place. I lived on campus, and the students are…well, those kids I won't miss, let me tell you." He smiled, and looked down at me. "I miss it a bit though. Cambridge Massachusetts has been my home for a very long time now." He told me, and I stepped closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around me.

"Are you going to go back?" I asked him softly, and I felt his head lean on my head.

"I don't think so Angel. I think I'm going to stay in New York. Boston is where my past is, but New York is where my heart is…for one reason or the other." He told me, and I sighed out in relief.

"What about Santa Fe?" I asked him, and he laughed.

"Well, yes, there's my dream too." He said, and rubbed my arm. "When I get the chance, and the money, I'm out of here with you guys. Unless you all protest leaving, which is when I'll give in and stay." He told me, and I smiled warmly.

"I'm sure I'll go wherever you follow." I told him, and he laughed.

"Yes, unless you're running from me." He said, and I giggled.

"There won't be much more of that, I can assure you Tom." I said, taking his free hand in mine. He squeezed mine, and kissed the top of my head…well, wig. We continued to walk, and he made a turn. I looked up, and we walked to this lot where there were a lot of people around, and a stage set up. "Is this where the protest is?" I asked him.

"Yes, hopefully it'll start soon. Maureen's protests are never short." He told me, and smiled. "But I'll have you home at a decent hour, just like I promised your father." I couldn't help but laugh. He made me feel like a little girl in middle school, well, I think he did.

"Hey! Collins!" Shouted a voice that sounded familiar. I looked up at and saw Mark with a few people. He was waving his arms to get our attention. "Angel! Collins! Come here!" He called, and we scurried over there, minding everyone else in the crowded lot. We caught up to him, and he grinned. "I want you two to meet someone. She finally got Roger out of the house." He said, almost proudly, holding his camera to his chest. "I want you to meet Mimi Marquez." He said, and my jaw dropped. I turned to Roger, and next to him was a little Latina girl, with wild hair, sunglasses, and a leopard print jacket. We both screamed in happiness. I let go of Tom, and latched on to her.

"Mimi-chica! Oh my God, you look so good!" I told her, being reacquainted with my best friend in the world. She held me tight.

"Angie, you're looking pretty hot yourself!" She said, and let go to look at me. "Look at you, you kinky little girl. Where did you find the time to make this?" She asked, and I laughed.

"Last weekend when you weren't picking up your phone for whatever reason. It was hard to make this without a manikin you know." I told her, putting my hands on my hips, and she pouted.

"Angel, you know I didn't mean to. I wasn't feeling too hot last weekend, I had to take off of work." She said, and I frowned, and kissed her cheek.

"That's alright chica, it looks amazing on me anyway." I told her, and she laughed.

"You have no idea how hot you look." She told me and laughed, looking at the person tugging at my arm, Tom. I turned to him, and grinned.

"Mimi-chica, this is Tom Collins." I told her, taking him by the arm. "Tom, this is my best friend in the world, my Mimi-chica." I said, and leaned on Tom, looking at her. Mimi giggled, and took his hand.

"Just Mimi is fine." She said, shaking his hand, grinning.

"And you can call me Collins." He said, and chuckled. "Nice to meet you, finally." He said, and Mimi gave me a look.

"What do you mean finally?" She asked, looking at me, smirking, but asking Tom.

"Well, she's been talking a lot about you…and your relation with a former friend of mine." Tom muttered the last part, but Roger heard it, and his face dropped slightly. Uh-oh. Big mouth Angel. I tugged on his sleeve harshly to shut him up. Mark made a face, and I smile warmly at him.

"Well, now that we've all met, when does this protest start?" I asked, and Mark smiled.

"Oh any minute now. We just have to wait for Maureen to get he-…" He said, and we all heard a loud sound of a motor. It was a motorcycle, Maureen I supposed. We all hopped out of the way so she could ride by. People began to cheer for her, so we all joined in as well. She turned the bike off, and walked on to stage, taking off the helmet and throwing it off stage. She grinned at all of us, giving us the hand symbol for love. The crowd couldn't handle it. It was like she was a movie celebrity or something. She seemed like a real sweetheart, besides the whole cheating on poor Mark. But, that was none of my business, and they all seemed to love her anyway, especially Tom.

She basked in the glory for a little while longer, and put her hands up. She had magical powers, I swear, because when she lifted her hands, the audience fell into a quick hush. I couldn't help but smile. This girl was GOOD. When everyone was silent, she put her hands down, and breathed in. She stood infront of a microphone, which one already on her face. Her belt held a drumstick and a cowbell. This protest was going to be interesting I could tell. She breathed out, and looked at everyone.

"Last night, I had a dream." She said dramatically, and posed just as such. "I found myself in a desert called…Cyberland." Another pose followed. "I was hot, my canteen had sprung a leek and I was…thirsty." She almost whispered into her headset, and held her throat. "Out of the abyss walked a cow, Elsie." Someone gave a small hoot from behind me. Her name must have been Elsie too. "I asked if she had anything to drink, she said," She gave in a large breath before singing. "_I-----'m forbidden to produce, _milk. _In Cyberlaaaaand we only drink,_" She stopped to hit the cowbell, and stand infront of the microphone. "Diet Coke." The microphone echoed her voice, and we all had a great laugh at that. She was great, and I was really enjoying myself. She had a great singing voice too. "She said, _only thing to do is jump OVER the moon._" She sang sweetly, and I got goosebumps. I'm pretty sure I knew what this was about, after seeing Benny earlier today. "They've closed everything real down, like barns, and troughs and _PERFORMANCE SPACES. And replaced it aaaaall with _lies and rules and," Again to the microphone and cowbell. "Virtual life, but there is a way out." She hit a sound box next to her, and it sang, _'leap of faith, leap of faith' _over and over in rhythm. "_Only thing to do is jump over the moon._" She sang sweetly, and the recording stopped. She grabbed her throat, and gave a look of pain. "I-----'VE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!" She shrieked, and looked at the ceiling. "IT'S LIKE I'M BEING TIED TO THE HOOD OF A YELLOW RENTAL TRUCK, BEING PACKED IN WITH FERTILIZER, AND FUEL OIL, PUSHED OVER A CLIFF BY A SUICIDAL MICKEY MOUSE!" She shouted, and people laughed, including Mimi and myself. "I----- GOT TO GOT TO GOT TO GOT TO GOT TO GOT TO GOT TO GOT TO GOT TO GET OUT FIND A WAY!" She shouted, and people laughed again, as she pretended to choke herself during her shouting. She let go of herself and calmed down instantly. "To jump over the moon, only thing to do is jump over the moon." She said, and people laughed again. "Then, a little bulldog entered. His name, we have learned, was BENNY." She said, and pointed to the audience, at who I presumed was Benny. I saw him standing with a few other men dressed nicely. Around them were a few policemen. Oh shit, what an asshole. "And although he once had principles, he abandoned them to live as a lap dog to a wealthy Daughter of the Revolution." She said, and I could see the hate in Benny's eyes. She gave him a little puppy face, with her hands out, like she was begging or something. This got a nice laugh. She hit the soundbox again, and another Acapulco sound came from it. "_That's bull, he said. Ever since the cat took up the fiddle that cow's been…jumpy. The dish and the spoon were evicted from the table and eloped. She's had trouble with that moon and her milk ever since, maybe it's a…FEMALE thing._" She said, and grabbed herself, getting more laughs. "_'Cause who'd wanna leave Cyberland anyway! Walls ain't so bad. The dish and the spoon for instance, they're down on their luck, they come knocking on my doghouse door, and I say, _'not in my backyard utensils, go back to China!" She said, and I couldn't help but crack up. The audience loved her.

"_The only way out is up! _Elise whispered to me. _A leaaaaaaaap oooooffffff faaaith._" She sang sweetly, and Tom whistled for her, and laughed. "Still thirsty?" She said, her eyes closed. She stepped infront of the microphone. "Parched." She said softly as it echoed through the lot. "Have some milk." She said just as softly, and squatted back a bit, and looked right up. "And I lowered myself beneath her swollen utter, and sucked the sweetest milk I had ever tasted." She said, and made a sucking sound that sent the crowd into hysterics. She stood back up. "_Climb on board! _She said, and as a harvest moon rose over Cyberland, we reared back; we sprang into a gallop, leaping out of orbit. I awoke singing!" She shouted, and hit the soundbox one more time, the leaps of faith recording. "_Only thing to do, only thing to do is jump, only thing to do is jump over the moon. Only thing to do is jump over the moon, over the moon, over the…MOO._" She mooed. I laughed. She actually mooed. She did it again, and looked at the audience infront of her. "Moo with me." She said, and mooed again. Someone followed orders, and she grinned. "Yes! That's it, MOO WITH ME!" She shouted.I heard Roger and Mimi moo, and then I did, pulling on Tom's arm so he would as well. It took him a moment, but he got into it, and laughed as he did so. That's when I heard it.

There was a shout from one side of the lot and the five of us turned, Mark with his camera at attention. The cops that Benny had with him were surrounding the crowd, and had hit someone. I stood on my tiptoes to see, but couldn't manage much. I could just hear Maureen on the stage shouting at the cops.

"No! This was a peaceful protest! He wasn't doing anything wrong!" She shouted, but it didn't matter. Someone jumped the cop, and people began to run, and run into each other, the other cops got on it. I felt Tom grab my arm.

"I've gotta get you out of here." He said to me, and began to ran, and I bumped into a cop. Tom pulled me forcefully, and the cop grabbed him.

"Let go of him!" I shouted, and charged at the officer. Another one came behind me, and twisted both of my arms back. Shit, you asshole. I shouted in pain, and tried to wrestle him off of me.

"Get off of her!" Collins shouted, trying to get to me. He didn't need to do a thing. Another officer came to assist the one trying to snap my arms. I looked up at him, and just gave him a blow to the stomach with my pumps. The other officer let go of me, and Collins took me, and we hauled some serious ass out of that lot.

"What about everyone else?" I asked him, and he looked at me as we escaped.

"Honey, if you and Mimi are such good friends, after seeing that fight you gave up, I doubt they're going to need anymore help." He said, and I laughed at him, kissing his cheek.


	9. Bohemia Is Dead

It took us a while to actually get out of that mess. When we did, Tom had immediately latched to me, checking my arms for bruises or anything. They were killing me. I knew a few bruises would pop up very soon, but I was infact going to live. When he was done looking at my arms and legs, which didn't go over well since I was wearing tights, he held me close to him, and kissed my cheek.

"Oh my God Angel, I'm so sorry, I didn't think that would happen. Usually this sort of thing doesn't at Maureen's protests, I swear if I thought anything like this would ever happen, I wouldn't have-…" He was rambling again. I covered his mouth with my own to shut him up. I let go of him, and looked into his eyes.

"Tom, sweetie, don't be sorry." I said, and grinned at him. "I haven't had that much excitement in a very long time." I told him, and laughed, kissing him again, holding his face to mine as he wrapped his arms around me. I heard a whistle or two, and Tom let go of me, and turned his head. I couldn't help myself to a little more, as I continued to kiss him down his cheek to his jaw line, leaning on him.

"Hey, if you two want to just head back home, we aren't stopping you." I heard Roger call out, and laughed. I stopped and looked at him, holding Mimi's hand. OH MY GOD! My Mimi has a sweetheart? This was too perfect! Mimi flashed a grin at me.

"Come on Angel, we haven't been able to hang out and party for the longest time! We'll be able to catch up baby." Mimi said, and grabbed my hand, steering me from Tom to the restaurant closest to us, the Life Café. I looked back at Tom, who was talking to Roger. She almost ran so we could have a second to ourselves. She turned me to face her, and her face was of utter awe. "You are seeing HIM?" She asked me, with an amazed smile on her face. I blushed, and giggled.

"Yeah…we…well…just met actually." I told her, and held my hands together. Her jaw dropped.

"You little slut! Already sucking face!" She almost shrieked, and I gave her a mockingly hurt face.

"I am not!" I told her defensively, and hit her arm. "And, I would NOT be the one to talk, holding hands with New York's number one bad guy." I told her, and giggled. She laughed with me.

"Oh my God…I don't know what it is about Roger. I mean, he was a wicked asshole when I first tried to get him out, but I think he was just cranky or something, because he came right back to me." She said defiantly.

"And how long has this been going on?" I asked her, my heart all a flutter. She blushed.

"Um…since like…three this afternoon." She said, and I gawked at her, and hit her arm again. "Ow! Angel, stop that!" She said, and rubbed her arm. "You can't call me a hypocrite either." She said, before I could even open my mouth. "We haven't even kissed once." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, Collins and I have been with each other since noon, non stop. I can't help myself, I mean god damn it Meems, look at the guy." I said, and turned her body to face Tom. "He's a walking sexsicle." I told her, and she giggled.

"Alright, fine, but make sure you don't get past that, unless he's one for suicide." She told me, and I sighed at her.

"Oh shut up, he has it too." I grumbled at her, and walked over to a table where some others were seated. She followed, frowning.

"Angel, come on, don't be such a sour puss." She said, and sat next to me, holding my arm. I looked right at her.

"I'm not stupid enough to date someone who's not sick Mimi." I told her harshly. "I would never EVER risk passing that on. You know better than that." I said, and crossed my arms. She frowned, and rubbed my arm.

"I know Angel, but…I don't know, Collins seems like a sweet guy, and I just don't want you jumping into anything." She assured me, and I smiled a little bit. How could I get mad at her? She snuggled up to me, and pouted, looking into my eyes sadly. "Please forgive me Angel?" She begged, and I rolled my eyes.

"I hate you SO much girl." I said, and she giggled, knowing I was joking. I gave her a big kiss, and she giggled again. There was a clearing of the throat behind me, and two big hands made there way to my shoulders. I looked up, and grinned. Tom was there.

"So, I see my competition. I'm in more trouble than I thought." He said, and I giggled. Mimi sat up to face him.

"You know it honey. This is MY shemale hoe." She said, and snapped her finger, and I slapped her butt. Tom cracked up.

"Well, then I would be happy to be a frequent flyer." He said, and turned to kiss me. He did, and I held his face to mine. Mimi just sighed.

"Gross." She muttered. Well, that was out of her character, let me tell you. My Mimi-chica was a full time S&M dancer at the Cat Scratch Club down the street. The last thing on earth she should be grossed out about is a sweet kiss. Tom looked at her, and laughed.

"Well, now that you're seeing Roger…this'll be a good induction to all things gross." He said, and I stuck my tongue out along with Mimi. We both giggled, and others walked in. Maureen walked in with Mark and a woman, who she seemed latched to. This must have been the woman she was with…I surely hope. Joanne I think Roger said her name was. Roger sat down across from Mimi, and Mark sat next to Roger. Tom looked down at me. "Has anyone taken the seat next to you?" He asked me, and I giggled.

"Yes, the most gorgeous man on earth did." I told him, and took his hand, sitting him down next to me. He grinned, and pulled me hard, and kissed me just as hard. I sat up on my knees, kissing him back. Mark had thrown his balled up napkin at Tom, but he didn't leave our kiss. He just gave Mark the finger, and went right back to me.

"Well, well, well, Collins." A feminine voice called from across the table. "Aren't we fiery tonight?" Tom let go of our kiss, and I breathed out heavily. Shit, I don't know whether he was trying to serenade me, or kill me. I would hate for that kiss to have gone any farther, for my own life. But then again, it wouldn't hurt too much to just try. Which I was going to do, the end. I turned to the voice. It was Maureen. I grinned at her happily. Tom stood up, and she hopped over the table, and gave him a big hug and a kiss. I giggled, and clapped my hands happily. She let go of him, and looked at me. She smiled. "And who might this be?" She asked him, and he grinned, taking my hand.

"This Maureen is Angel Dummot-Schunard." He said, and she looked at him happily.

"No pet names yet?" She asked quietly, and I blushed horribly.

"I haven't had the time to think of one." He said, and pulled me close to him, kissing my cheek.

"She from Boston?" She asked, and I looked up at Tom.

"No, she lives right down the block." He told her, and I giggled.

"I found him this morning in the alleyway, all beat up and bruised. I couldn't leave him there to fend for himself." I told Maureen, and she gasped.

"You got beat up!" She exclaimed, holding her heart.

"Yeah, while I was getting ready to walk to the loft." Tom told her, and frowned. "But I'm alright now." Maureen nodded, and smiled.

"So…what did you guys think?" She asked, and I grinned happily, jumping.

"Maureen, you were WONDERFUL sweetie. You just kept me on my toes that whole time! All those metaphors were perfect, from what I know." I told her happily, and Tom nodded.

"Made me miss you guys a lot. Hopefully I won't be missing anything anymore." He said, and laughed. Maureen just glowed.

"Well, I'm glad you guys had fun! I'm going to go make the rounds." She said, and kissed Tom's cheek. She left, and we both sat back down. I snuggled back up to him, and he wrapped his arm around me. He was warm, and if it weren't so loud in here, I could have fallen asleep. A moment later, a waiter came over to us. Tom nudged me.

"You want anything?" He asked me, and I giggled.

"Oh…um...yeah…uh…Miso Soup sounds good." I said. I wasn't expecting to order; I forgot the point of restaurants was to infact feed people. Tom laughed at me, and looked back at the waiter.

"And I'll have the vegetarian spaghetti dish please." He said, and I looked at him.

"Vegetarian?" I asked him, and he nodded. I gave him a funny face, and Roger tapped my arm.

"Yes, see, he won't eat meat from an animal, but he'll eat human meat." Roger said, and I just fell into a fit of giggles with Mimi. Tom shot him a look and threw his spoon at Roger. Roger began to laugh too. "See Angel, he's harmless." Roger said, and picked up the spoon. "Wouldn't even throw his fork at me." Tom made a face at him, and Roger made a goofy face, and stuck out his tongue.

"So, how are you two friends?" I asked, and Mimi snorted. Tom chuckled.

"Aw, see, Roger might have this tough funny ass attitude right now, but in all actuality, he's the biggest pussy I've ever met." Collins smiled, and looked at Roger.

"Well, at least I won't have to worry about you hitting on him then." I told him, and Mimi just cracked up. Roger made a face of disgust.

"Angel, you are a sick, sick human." He muttered to me. I looked at him, and held my hand to my ear.

"What? What was that? A sick what? I didn't get that the first time, can you repeat that?" I asked him. I couldn't believe he said human. I do infact have a gender. Skirt or penis. It does exist. He got nervous, and Mimi hit my arm.

"Angel, stop that!" She told me. "You're worse than he is!" She squealed, and I laughed. Before she could say anything else, I heard Maureen. We all looked up.

"Benjamin Coffin the Third, the enemy of Avenue A." She grumbled, walking over to a small table with Benny and one of the men he was with earlier.

"What brings a mogul in his own mind to the Life Café?" Tom shouted. Benny stood up, looking pissed.

"Now, you guys, stop. Don't make a scene." He said, walking over to our table. Maureen made a face.

"OH! So now, you don't want a scene!" She shrieked. "You should have told the cops you paid off that." She grumbled. Benny looked right at her.

"That wasn't my fault. They were just on standby, but they took their liberties." He fought, and Maureen rolled her eyes.

"Go to hell." She grumbled, and he sighed, about to say something, when Roger interrupted.

"Why did Muffy-…?"

"-Allison." Benny corrected, and Roger made a little face.

"Miss the show?" He continued, and looked at Mark.

"There was a…death in our family." Benny said, looking at the floor. Everyone sort of looked at each other, and I sort of felt bad.

"Who died?" I asked him, and he looked right at me.

"Our…Akita." He answered softly, and my eyes got big.

"Evita!" Both Mark and Roger decided to exclaim, and Tom hit them both subtly. I hid myself behind him, and he chuckled a bit. Benny sighed, thinking we were making fun of him, which we weren't, not really.

"You all make fun, but I'm the only one here attempting to do any good for myself. You're the ones who want to live in places where hobos piss on your doorsteps. You think of this fantasy world, Bohemia. Well, wake up sunshines, this is Calcutta, Bohemia is DEAD." He said, and walked back to his seat, and Mark stood up, and did a pretend eulogy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we gather here on this fine night to say out goodbyes to the late great daughter of mother earth, on this night that we celebrate a birth of…your savior." Okay, Mark's Jewish. Got it. Both Collins and Roger stood up, and sang a deep Latin choir song, and Mimi and I pretended to cry our eyes out. "We raise our glasses to La Vie BOHEME!" He said, and we all lifted our water glasses, and clinked them together.

"La Vie Boheme!" We all shouted in agreement, and drank our water. I giggled, and Tom laughed, taking my hand. We heard the other man at the table clear his throat, sounding annoyed. I looked at where his eyes were focused. It was on Maureen and Joanne, who were making out.

"Hey, she's my sister." Maureen said and giggled. That was pretty slick, though…Joanne was African American, and Maureen was about as white as Mark. That made me laugh, and looked at Tom. He grinned at me.

"That's Maureen for you." He said, and laughed. The waiter came back into view, and called attention.

"Alright people, I have here, thirteen orders of fries, five Miso soups, four seaweed salads, three soy burger dinners, two tofu dog platters, and one pasta with meatless balls." He said, and Roger cracked up.

"That's disgusting!" He said, laughing.

"It tastes exactly the same!" Tom said defensively, and I put a hand on his chest, trying to console him, but Mimi opened her mouth.

"If you close your eyes." She said, and I snorted. It did sound raunchy.

"Is that all?" The waiter called over us.

"Wine!" Mark shouted.

"And beer!" Roger added, and we all cheered. I clapped, and laughed. I looked at Mimi.

"This is going to be the best night of my life!" I told her, and she grinned.

"I hope so, and I hope mine's just as good." She said, and our beers were handed to us. She stood up, and held hers.

"To handcrafted beers made in local breweries!" She said, holding up her bottle. I stood up with her.

"To Yoga!" I said, and we both drank

"To yogurt!" She said, almost proudly, and I laughed.

"To rice!"

"And to beans!"

"And cheese!" I added quickly, and we both drank again, laughing our asses off.

"To leather!" She said loudly, holding her bottle, and she got some cheers. I was not going to let her win. We both drank, and I stood up on my chair, holding my bottle into the air.

"To dildos!" I said, and both genders shouted in laughter and cheers. We both drank again, cracking up.

"To Curry Vindaloo!" She tried, and I giggled.

"To Huevoes."

"Rancheros!"

"To Maya Angelou!" We both shouted, and fell on our asses, drinking the rest of our beer. Tom caught me, and kissed my cheek.

"You need a chill pill baby." He said, but I knew he was having a good time. I looked right at him, and opened another bottle of beer.

"You try it!" I told him, and he laughed.

"Alright." He smirked, and stood up, holding his glass. "To emotion!" He said, and drank, and I smacked his butt.

"To devotion!" Maureen said, standing, and Mark snorted. I felt bad for him.

"To causing a commotion." Tom said, and held up my hand, as I drunk, and I laughed.

"Creation!" Maureen added, and Tom shrugged.

"Vacations!" He said, and laughed. These two sucked. I looked at Mark, and he looked at me. He stood up with his wine glass.

"To mucho masturbation!" He shouted, and we all certainly drank to that. I cracked up.

"To Sontag!" Tom added, and drank.

"To Sondheim!" I said happily, and drank.

"To…Lenny Bruce!" Tom added quickly, pointing to Roger, who seemed out of it.

"To…umm…Langston Hughes!" Roger made up, and then laughed, along with others.

"TO THE STAGE!" Maureen screamed, and downed most of her beer. Tom laughed happily, but he was still standing. As I finished my second beer, I pulled him down next to me, and gave him a rather sloppy kiss. It was beer, not spit, thank you. I am still a lady, alcoholic or not. He wrapped his arms around me, and one hand made it's way down to my leg, and wrapped it around him. What a little horn dog. I guess his tolerance to beer wasn't very high. I pulled him in tight, and I heard hollers in our direction. My hand found it's way up his shirt to his abs. Oh shit, there they were again. Thank God for that man's interruption, or I would have had to take Tom to the bathroom or something. Benny's friend, or whatever, cleared his throat again, and was looking at both Tom and me. I giggled, and we shrugged.

"Brothers." We said at the same time. I laughed at him, and he snorted, sending him into almost tears. Mimi hit my arm laughing. I turned to face her, and Mark stood up. He was drunk. You could tell. He lifted his beer bottle, and pointed it up.

"To bisexuals!" He said, shooting that at Maureen. I stood up, to make the situation lighter.

"To…trisexuals!" I shouted, and everyone laughed. Mimi stood up, holding on to me.

"To homo…sapiens!" She said, and I laughed.

"Carcinogens." Mark said. It was my turned.

"Hallucinogens." I stuttered, and drank. I heard Tom clap. Mimi shrugged.

"Men." She said, and laughed.

"To Pee-Wee Herman!" Mark said, and I snorted.

"To German Wine!" I said, drinking some wine this time.

"To turpentine!" Mimi shouted.

"Gertrude Stein." Mark said, drinking, and Roger cracked up.

"Antonioni!" I said, pointing to Mark.

"Bertolucci!" Mimi said proudly.

"Kurosowa!" Mark said, trying to imitate a Kung Fu fighter or something. I crack up.

"Carina Burana!" I said, but barely over my laughs. I downed the rest of my wine, and grabbed another bottle of beer. I had to hold onto my chair by now. Collins stood up, and lighting up a joint, he smirked.

"To marijuana!" He said, and I cracked up. Mimi joined him.

"To sodomy!" She shouted, and held a hand to her mouth.

"To S&M!" I screamed, and Tom held me close.

"La Vie Boheme!" He shouted, along with a few other people. We collapsed and cracked up, drinking. I took off my Santa coat, the wine going to my head, and making me hot. Tom watched me closely, but he wasn't about to get any kind of show. I was wearing something under that. Just a skirt and a green top with nylon orange and yellow sleeves. Weirdest thing I ever made. He kissed my cheek, and I turned to kiss him. After a second, he stood up, and clinked his knife to his glass.

"In honor of the death of Bohemia," He said, shooting a look at Benny. "An impromptu salon will commence immediately following dinner." He said, and other cheered. "Mimi Marquez, clad only in bubble wrap mind you, will perform her famous lawn chair handcuff dance, to the sounds of ice tea being stirred." He said, in a British accent, and Mimi hit my arm.

"How does he know I can do that?" She scolded, and I just giggled.

"Oh shut up, he would have found out one way or another." I laughed. Roger stood up.

"And Mark Cohen will preview his new documentary about his inability to hold an erection on the high holy days!" He said raunchily, and Mark made a wicked funny face. Okay, so he was defiantly Jewish. It was his turn.

"And Maureen Johnson, back from her spectacular one night engagement at the eleventh street lot, will perform Native American tribal chants, backwards, through her vocoder, while accompanying herself on the electric cello. Which she has never studied." Mark said, and Maureen stuck her tongue out at him. I laughed, and Benny came around, trying to ignore us. He walked over to Mimi, and I growled at him. He shot me a look.

"Calm down Angel, I just want to talk to her for Christ's sake." He told me.

"You have three minutes." I told him seriously, and went to back to my drink, and my Tom. Mark continued his little speech.

"And Roger will write a bittersweet evocative song." He said, and looked at Roger who had migrated to the stage, had a guitar in his hand. He played a raw version of La Boheme's Musetta's Waltz. "That!" Mark interrupted. "Doesn't remind us of Musetta's Waltz." He said, and sat down, I laughed, but was pulled up by Tom.

"Angel Dummot-Schunard will model the latest fall fashions for Paris, while accompanying herself on the ten gallon plastic pickle tub." He said, and I did a little dance, which included the showing of my underwear to anyone watching. I stood up straight, and looked at everyone.

"And Collins," I made sure I didn't say Tom, since I knew everyone else knew him as Collins. "Will recounted his exploits as an anarchist, including the tale of his successful reprogramming of the MIT virtual reality to self-destruct, as it broadcasts the words…" I said, and looked at Tom. He held up his hand, with Mark and Maureen.

"Actual Reality! Act Up! Fight AIDS!" We all shouted at the top of our lungs, and Benny ran back into sight, hearing what was just said, and ran to his table.

"CHECK!" He yelled, wanting to get out of there. We all had a good laugh at that, and Tom helped me down. Mimi ran back into, looking pissed, but walked over to Roger, so I figured everything was okay. I didn't really have a choice; Tom had already had his arms around me, and it tickled. I heard a loud beeping sound, and then another, and another, and another. It irritated me, and then I realized it was coming from my hip. Shit, my fucking beeper. I turned it off, and sighed. A few other people turned theirs off, including Tom. I looked at him, as I got my AZT out, and so did he. I took out a pill, and he looked at me with his. This scene broke my heart. I fed him my pill, and he did the same with me.

"I love you." I said softly.

"I love you too Angel." I said, looking into my eyes, and we kissed lovingly. As we did, our dishes were set infront of us, and I looked down.

"Oh finally." I said, not really knowing what else to say. I looked at his dish, it looked normal. Mark looked at me.

"Don't even try it." He warned me, and I laughed.

"Oh, it can't be that bad." I told him, and Mark shook his head.

"No, trust me, it's terrible." He told me, and I smirked.

"You know I'm going to try it anyway." I told him, and he laughed, drinking some more beer.

"Your funeral then." He muttered, and I smirked at him.

"Good." I said stubbornly, and took a sip of my soup, which was completely orgasmic. I never ended up trying Tom's meatballs. I was just being stubborn to Mark. I looked over at Mimi, but she wasn't at her seat. I looked over where she was with Roger a second ago, but they had left. I frowned a bit, and took another sip of soup. Tom looked at me.

"What's wrong Angel?" He asked me, mouth full of food. I shook my head.

"It's nothing." I told him, and smiled. I was a full-fledged lie. Mimi was gone, and I'm worried about her. Her and Benny had been together for a year or two, but when he found out she got AIDS, which she contracted from a heroin needle while they were dating, he dumped her on her ass, and then continued to tell her that he was getting married to a rich woman, who was the daughter of the owner of her building. She had been a wreck for a long time after that. Getting HIV was enough to cause a mental breakdown, but Benny didn't make it any better, by breaking up their relationship for money, and cheating on her. This wasn't any ordinary my best friend's ex story. I hated him so much, it almost hurt everytime I saw her sad, for whatever reason.

The little party we had quieted down, as we ate, got full, and got tired. Sure, we all became piss drunk after we finished eating, but it was a sleepy drunk, until Joanne walked in. Apparently she had left, I didn't even realize. Maureen looked at her, and smiled, walking over to her.

"Pookie! Are we packed up?" She asked happily. I made a face. Packed up? She didn't mean the stage did she? Shit, what a bitch. I must have been right, because Joanne looked livid.

"Yes, and by next week, I want you to be Maureen." She growled, and Maureen looked at her, wide-eyed.

"But Pookie…" Joanne just looked away from her.

"They're still rioting out there." She said to all of us, and we all looked at each other. It had to have been a couple of hours after the riot started. "Benny called a few more cops to come in." She sighed, and looked around. "But they aren't leaving…" She said, and then smiled. "They're all just sitting there…mooing." She said, and we all cheered happily. A girl who was sitting next to Mark stood up, and held glass up.

"One more time! To dance!" She said, and drank her beer. "A way to make a living, masochism, pain, perfect, perfection, muscle spasms, chiropractors, eating disorders!" She shouted, and we drank to her.

"To film!" Mark shouted, and stood as well. "Adventure, tedium, no families, boring locations, dark rooms, perfect faces, egos, money, Hollywood, and SLEEZE!"

"To music!" I heard myself shout, and stand. "Food of love, emotion, mathematics, isolation, rhythm, power, feeling, harmony and heavy competition!"

"To anarchy!" I felt Tom next to me, but two voices shouted it. Maureen was standing too. "Revolution, justice, screaming for solutions, and forcing changes!" He shouted, and we drank.

"Risking danger, making noise to making pleas!" Maureen added, and we drank again. Tom was just having a grand old time.

"To faggots!" He said merrily, and drank.

"To lezzies!" Maureen giggled, and drank.

"To dykes!" Joanne shouted, and we all laughed.

"To cross-dressers!" I added, and there was another few laughs as I drank. Mark climbed up on the table.

"And let he among us without sin be the first to condemn la vie Boheme!" He shouted, and drank. We all raised our glasses to that happily.

"Viva La Vie Boheme!" Tom shouted, climbing on the table with Mark, and they both smashed their glasses together, getting beer and wine everywhere. Everyone shouted, and clapped happily. I stood up, and helped Tom down, and kissed me anxiously. He was covered in alcohol, and I had no problem getting rid of it. A waiter came in to tell us that the Life was closing in a few minutes, and we needed to pay. Everyone kind of just looked at each other. Mark frowned.

"Well…fuck." He muttered. I looked at them; Joanne gave a lot in, along with Maureen. They apparently had it better than anyone else. I stood up, holding onto Tom for support, because my legs were giving into gravity like a bitch. I held up my hand.

"Wait, wait I got it, I got it." I slurred, and placed my foot on the table, and unbuckled my knee-high boot. I took out a few fifties, and waved it at the waiter, but forgot to…you know, lace my boot back up, so, I tripped, and almost fell, but graceful Tom caught me. I giggled, and snorted. He took the money from me, and gave it to Joanne.

"Come on baby, let me get you home." Tom said, and tied my shoelace, as I held his back. He stood up, and flipped me over his back, and I screamed, kicking. He chuckled, and slid me down, cradling me, and I latched onto his neck happily. He walked us out of the restaurant, and I kicked my legs, humming to myself.

"You don't have to carry me you know. I'm a big girl, I can do it." I told him, and giggled.

"I prefer I know where you're going honestly." He laughed, and I hung my head back, and looked at the sky.

"I've never seen real stars before." I told him looking into the dark blue sky, which should be black, but New York refuses to obey physics. He looked down at me.

"Really?" He asked me softly.

"Yeah." I told him.

"Well, maybe someday I'll take you out to see them. No one should have something as the stars out of their past." He said to me, and I looked back up at him, into his eyes. He looked at me seriously, and I just started laughing. He gave me a look. "What?" He asked.

"I just think it's funny." I told him, still laughing obnoxiously. "I haven't seen the stars. I am twenty three years old, I haven't seen a star." I said, and continued to laugh.

"What's so funny about that?" He asked me, confused. I climbed down from his grasp, and looked at it.

"Wouldn't it be funny if I told you I've never…I don't know, danced?" I asked him, and he shrugged. I sighed. "You know Tom, you're no fun." I told him, and leaned up against him. He just laughed, and wandered his hand down my back.

"You just wait my Angel." He said, and pecked at my forehead. He growled playfully, and I squealed.

"Thomas!" I almost shouted. "You are a dirty man." I told him, and he laughed.

"I can't help it Angel." He told me happily, and stopped walking, so he could spin me. I laughed as I spun, and he pulled me close. "I don't know what it is about you that just makes me smile, and makes my heart melt." He told me. "I just want to shout it out loud!" He shouted, and I laughed, covering his mouth.

"Tom, shut up, we'll get arrested." I told him, and laughed, pulling him into my apartment building. Our apartment building. AHH! Oh My GOD!

"I don't care!" He told me, and grinned, looking into my eyes. "I LOVE you Angel." He said, almost shaking my arms. I smiled at him, and nuzzled his nose. I didn't know what to say. Sure, being completely wasted helped me a bit, but he just made me blush. No one had ever been like this to me before. I liked it. I loved it. I loved him. I love him.

"I love you too Tom." I told him, and looked up at him. He caressed my cheek, staring down at me.

"Now, let's get upstairs." He told me, and we walked up the five flights to my apartment, our apartment. By the time we got there, I was completely wiped out. I looked at him, and unlocked my door with my key. When we walked into the apartment, I just dropped everything, and fell on my couch. He was right behind me, shutting the door. He walked over to me, and placed my legs in his lap. I yawned, and he began to unbuckle and untie my boots. I giggled at him.

"You're such a sweetie-pie." I told him, and wiggled my toes as my first leg was freed. He chuckled at me.

"The very least I can do." He told me, and I just smiled at him lovingly. He placed my second boot on the floor, and I sat up, looking at him. He smiled, but neither of us knew what to say…or do. Well, I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn't sure how to get to it. He laughed nervously, and scratched his head. "So, where will I be sleeping?" He asked me timidly, and I just continued to smirk. Oh good, he was blissful. I sat up on my knees, and grabbed his collar, holding him close to me.

"With me." I whispered, and kissed him lovingly. Mimi and I were right, between the money, the new friends, and Tom Collins…in my bed, this was the best night of my life.

**INTERMISSION.**


	10. I'll Cover You

**SORRY! AH! I dunno, even though you guys have been WICKED cool about this story, my muse is slowly dying for it. I'm not going to stop, but I won't be updating a lot. So, you might as well put this story on alert if you want to keep reading it, because you'll forget its existance afterwards, lol. So, here's chapter ten. It was too hard to write, so I stopped abruptly, and when I continue, it'll go straight to New Years. It'll be a good time. So, thanks for reading! And thanks MUCHLY for the reviews! Keep it coming, and I'll keep the story coming.**

It was Christmas. Since I had moved to the alphabet city, I've never once gotten a Christmas present. I didn't mind, but I didn't notice until this year, this Christmas. I noticed, because I was blessed with gifts galore. Nothing in wrapping or under a tree, or in a stocking, but gifts I wouldn't trade the world for. I had a new family, friends, comfort, support, and love. My life was full to the brim with everything I needed, except for food, but that was okay.

I woke up to a very sleepy face infront of me. Collins had been watching me as I slept. How cute. He smiled at me, and kissed me sweetly. I kissed him back, and held his face softly. We stayed there like that, kissing, holding each other, and laying down in bed. He finally let me go, and I didn't open my eyes for a few seconds. He gave me one more quick kiss.

"You like pancakes Angel?" He asked me very softly. I giggled and nodded.

"Yes I do, very much." I told him, and he nodded.

"Good. I'll go make some." He said, and went to stand up. It took me a second to figure out the whole situation before I sat up quickly.

"Whoa, hey mister, you get your butt back into bed." I told him, but he crawled off the mattress anyway.

"No." He said simply, and stood up, looking around for his shorts. Which I tore off last night. I giggled at him.

"Alright, you can make breakfast, but you have to be naked the whole time." I smirked, and he blushed looking at me.

"Um…Angel, it's like…twelve degrees in this apartment." I just kept my sassy little smirk on.

"Such a shock. It was really hot last night." I told him, just above a whisper, and he gave me a look. A look that meant he didn't know what to do about what I had just said. He walked back over to my bed, and crawled over me. I scrunched my nose up, and giggled.

"I'm looking forward to a lot more warm nights with you Angel." He said, and kissed my ear. I shivered like a dog on crack. His voice was so deep; it made me vibrate terribly, but in a very good way. I could remember last night, he whispered into my ears the sweetest hottest things I have ever heard. My God did I love him. I couldn't explain it. We didn't even know each other for twenty-four hours, and I was in pitiful love. He looked into my eyes, and kissed me sweetly, and I begged for more, but he stood up. "But for now, I'm going to make breakfast." He said, what a friggin' tease. "With my clothes on, thank you very much." He added, and I grumbled playfully at him, and he grinned, pulling on his shorts, and then pants. He pulled on his shirt, and I just sat, and sighed, looking at my feet. I don't know why I did it. I wasn't sure if it was because I was depressed about him leaving my side, or I was incredibly happy that I had him. I crawled out of bed when he left my room, and grabbed my bathrobe, and tied it tightly around myself. I left my room, and looked at Collins, who was searching around my little nook of a kitchen for food. I giggled at him.

"Need some help there?" I asked him, and he turned to face me, and smiled a bit shyly.

"Well, now that you mention it…I don't where anything is." He said, and I giggled again.

"Oh sweetie." I mumbled, and walked over to his side, and bent down, taking out a pan from the cabinet below him, and handing it to him. He took it, and turned the burner on. I stood back up, and crawled on top of the counter to get a box of Jiffy mix. I felt Collins hold me, afraid that I would fall or touch the burner. I looked down at him, and smiled happily. Oh my GOD was he the sweetest little thing. I handed him the box finally, and he placed it down. When my butt was on the counter, he took me by my thighs and helped me down. I could do absolutely nothing but continue to smile blissfully at him. Every stupid little common thing I did, he made it into a romantic fairy tale. I loved him, and that was the end of it. He let go of me after softly kissing the bridge of my nose. As he returned to the pan on the stove, I watched him happily. It was like everything that he did was new to me. Even cracking an egg on the side of the counter. Everything he did made me interested. He looked over at me, and smirked.

"Yes?" He asked playfully, and I giggled.

"Nothing." I told him, and looked up at his face, and bite on of my fingers. I got a few chips of nail polish on my tongue, and made a face. He looked at me.

"What's wrong Angel?" He asked. Oh Jesus the concern on his face. I looked at him as if nothing was wrong. Which…well…was true. It just tasted icky. Nail polish is not edible for a reason.

"Nothing's wrong, just a bad taste in my mouth." I told him, and took my finger out of my mouth. Pure genius, if it tastes bad, keep it away from your tongue. He made a face.

"Nothing to do with me right?" He asked, and I giggled, walking over to him, wrapped my arms around his neck.

"No baby, trust me." I told his softly. "You don't leave a bad taste in my mouth." I told him, and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and kissed me long and hard. It took every skill I had to remember how to breathe. We made out for a solid five minutes, and Collins smelt the burning pan on the stove, and jumped to turn the burner off. I giggled at him, and smacked his butt. He jumped up a bit, but I didn't see his face, because I walked past him to sit on the couch. He continued to cook, which I just thought was ridiculous. He was my guest…well…I don't know. But whatever he was, he shouldn't have cooked me breakfast. Even though it was very good. And I probably wouldn't have eaten anything if he didn't cook.

I watched for a moment more, and there was a knock on the door. I turned my head, and the door opened. I saw Mimi stick her head out of the crack, and placed her eyes on my face. I smiled at her.

"Mimi baby!" I squealed, and I walked over to her, and she kissed my cheek. "What are you doing up a night after drinking?" I asked her, and giggled. She just grinned.

"I'd just thought I'd find out how you were doing sweetie. How…you know…everything ended up last night." She said, apparently not noticing the hot piece cooking breakfast. I made a little face at her, and walked her into the livingroom, and nudged my heads towards Collins. She looked, and squealed, and I immediately clamped my hand to her mouth.

"Shut up!" I whispered to her, and grinned. I looked over at him, and he was minding himself, still making pancakes.

"Can't I stay?" She asked me, and pouted. "I just wanted to see how things are going, and now that I can see their going well, I wanna stay!" She pleaded, and pouted.

"Alright, alright!" I told her, and smirked. "Just don't say anything stupid." I told her, and her mouth flew open.

"When have I ever said anything stupid?" She asked me, absolutely offended. I gave her a face.

"Umm…do you really want me to answer that?" I asked her, and she smacked me arm. She looked up behind me, and I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist. Collins was behind me, and nipped my neck lightly. I giggled, and I saw Mimi's grin grow wide. He turned his attention from me to Mimi.

"Morning." He said proudly, as if he were showing me off or something. Mimi giggled at him.

"Good morning Collins." She said happily.

"You hungry?" He asked her, and she smiled.

"Only if you're cooking." She said, and I laughed. Seems like their getting along perfectly fine.

"It's a date then." He said, and let go of me, and walked to the counter. I smirked at her, and walked her inside, and she almost squeaked. As we walked, I looked at Mimi, and she sat down on the couch.

"I'm going to go put some clothes on…I'll be back in a second." I told her, and ran off to my bedroom.


	11. And Pussy Galore

Mimi was in love with Roger. Roger was in love with Mimi. Mark was still in love with Maureen. Maureen was in love with herself. And Joanne. Joanne was in love with Maureen. Collins was in love with me. And I was in love with Collins. This was going to turn out to be a good New Year. I could wait, but Collins was a little bit less impatient. Just a little bit.

You see, since this is the last DAY, the last NIGHT, last HOUR, of 1992, I figured I should look damn GOOD. Considering, in an hour, it would be the first second of 1993. And I was determined to look damn GOOD. You can't argue with that fact. So, anyway, I was in the bathroom. My hair was up in a net, waiting for it's luscious blonde wig to cover it. I was, what Collins called, poking my eyes out with a black pencil. Um, okay, seriously, I'm not even touching my eye. I'm too perfect to mess up like that. Besides, it doesn't hurt it you poke your eye. I was just putting the finishing touches, and it was like, quarter of eleven, when Collins banged on the door.

"Angel, baby, seriously, I need to go!" He shouted. My GOD was he impatient.

"We'll go when I'm finished sweetie-pie." I told him. "New Years won't not happen if you aren't there on time." I said, and began applying mascara. God I looked cute.

"What!" Collins shouted. "Angel, stop fooling around and get out of there. I need to go."

"Oh whine about it. Why is it always about you?" I asked him, not leaving my position in the mirror. "You ain't going without me baby." I told him. There was a silence of thirty seconds. Thank God too, because it gave me enough time to put on the rest of my eyewear.

"Angel, what the hell are you talking about?" Collins asked me.

"I don't know, what are you talking about?" I mocked him. He was such a pain sometimes.

"Angel, for Christ's sake woman, I need to use the bathroom!" He shouted, and I sighed. I put the make-up away, and walked to the door (Yes door! My baby put it in for me!), unlocked it, and opened it. Collins was almost hunched over, holding himself in between his legs.

"You could have just asked." I said, and he gave me a look. He was thinking of something to say, I could tell. He then just sighed.

"Just let me in." He said, and rushed into the bathroom. I stood outside the bathroom, and stared at the door. It felt weird, you know? I mean, I wasn't even close to being finished. I needed my lipstick, rogue, and my wig for certain, and I think the paint on my index finger could use some work. I could really express how I was feeling. I would never let Mimi do that. Interrupt me while I'm putting myself together? I think NOT. Besides, she knows better. But, I just let him go. I didn't even think. I mean, he could have used the fire escape. I've had to do that a few times while Meems was here, because she can be worse than me. I just let him do what he wanted. Wow, what is happening to me? I heard a flush, and Collins emerged from the bathroom.

"All yours ma'am." He said, and did a bow. I giggled.

"Who am I, you mother or something?" I asked, and he laughed, kissing me, being careful of my cover-up.

"No, that would be very creepy." He said, and I laughed.

"Ew Tom…gross." I said, and walked into the bathroom. "Now, I'll be out soon, just trying to make myself beautiful, and then we'll go." I said.

"Why aren't we going now then?" He asked, and I turned to face him. He had a cute smirk on his face, and I just smiled at him, and squealed. Why was it SO cute of him to call me attractive? It wasn't even the fact that he was complimenting me; it was just the look of satisfaction on his face. I just blushed like a little girl.

"Oh hush your fresh mouth!" I told him, and walked into the bathroom to cover-up my flushed cheeks with more red tints. I didn't end up locking the door that time, just incase. As I was fixing my wig to my head, Collins came in, looking all snazzy. He had these funky yellow sunglasses, and a snazzy black suit. He looked a little like Stevie Wonder. Why did I think that was hot? He looked at himself in the mirror, and smiled. I smiled at his reflection.

"How did I get so lucky?" He wondered aloud. I smirked.

"Your dad must have been HOT. That's how." I said, and laughed. He snorted.

"No, not that baby." He said, and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my cheek. "I mean you." I just stared back at his reflection, and placed my hands on his. "Look at us Angel. Six days of this, and I can already see that we're perfect." He whispered, looking at our reflection. We were something; I'll give him that. I have to tell you, I couldn't believe it. I was just waiting for the time when I was going to close my eyes, open them, and I would be knocked out on the street, and none of this would have happened. This was a dream. It was too good to be true. When everything around me seemed to be caving in, he came. I woke up from my thinking from a sleepy noise he made from his nose. It was cute. I looked up from the mirror and at him.

"I love you baby." I told him.

"I love you too my Angel." He said, and kissed me sweetly. Another cute sound came from him, and he lifted his head. "Well, we should get going honey." He said, and took my hand, walking me out of the bathroom.

"Okay, just let me get my shoes on." I told him, and he laughed as I walked to the bedroom.

"Don't tell me you made shoes out of those shower curtains." He said, and I made a face.

"Honey, ew. That would just be trashy." I told him, as if he was an idiot.

So, I came out with my bright pink 5 inch knee high gogos. And yes, I DID want to look like a Barbie Doll, thank you VERY much. Collins smiled warmly, calling me his Miss Pussy. I could help but crack up.

"After you Mademoiselle Galore." He said happily holding the door open for me.

"Oh, you speak French Mr. Bond?" I asked, and walked out to the hallway. He laughed, and walked out with me, locking the door behind him.

"I do a lot of things French Miss Galore." He said, impersonating Sean O'Connery as he did so. My GOD with this boy, he just couldn't stop cracking me up.

"No offense baby, but you couldn't pass for a Scotsman." I told him, and he pouted.

"Why not?" He asked me.

"Looked in a mirror baby?" I asked him, and he kissed my cheek.

We walked down the stairs of my apartment, down three blocks to the loft, where we were supposed to be meeting our little crew. But this wasn't going to be any old New Years bash, no no no. You see, this evening, when Roger and Mark came home, they found a padlock on their door. Benny had locked them out of their own apartment. So, in our defense, I grabbed a few welding tools, I don't want to talk about it, I found them when I moved in. Don't judge. Anyway, I was going to use them to open up the padlock. Show Benny a thing or two about whom he is messing with. We walked hand in hand, and finally reached their building. The building was dark, the power was out. We saw Mark laughing with Joanne, Maureen was pouting near them. That had been the situation for the past couple of days. Mark and Joanne laughing, Maureen was their joker. It was cute. Mimi and Roger, like they had been, were making out, leaning against the door. Also, very cute. Collins, decided to introduce us to the bunch by clearing his throat. They looked at as, Mimi and Roger unlatching. Mark laughed, camera pointing at us immediately.

"Angel, is that a shower curtain?" He asked, and I just made a face as if it were a compliment.

"Baby you look GOOD." Mimi said, and I giggled.

"I haven't seen you dressed up in a long time Collins." Roger said, and Collins lifted a hand to silence him.

"Please, call me Bond, James Bond." He said, gruffness ever so present in his voice. "And this is,"

"Pussy Galore, in person." I said, and smirked. Mimi laughed, and looked at the torch in my hand.

"Pussy, you came prepared!" She said happily.

"Well, what did you think? I was a boy scout once." I said, and everyone looked at me. What? Was that so weird that I did have a masculine side to me once? "Okay fine." I said, and rolled my eyes. "I was a Brownie, but I don't want to talk about it." I said, and Roger cracked up, taking the torch from me. Me, Collins and Mark walked over to the door with Roger. Roger and Collins set the torch, and stood ready with my heel to kick the sucker down. Mark stood, camera ready.

"And here we have the Boho Boys." Mark started, and I looked at him. He cleared his throat nervously. "And Pussy, I mean Angel-Anyway…" He trailed off. He was about to continue, but the lights in the building turned back on. We all looked at the building in confusion. What just happened? But it didn't matter, because Mimi started counting down the seconds to 1993.

"Ten, nine, eight…" She counted, looking at her watch. Roger and Collins finished up the last of the bolts.

"Five, four, three…" She continued.

"Open Sesame!" I shouted, and kicked the door open. I heard a pop of Joanne's Champagne, and Collins grabbed me. Everyone shouted Happy New Year. The most damned second of cliché in the book. I loved it. We all walked into the building, kissing each other, and wishing each other a happy New Year, but something stopped us. Benny stood there.

"There you are." He said casually. We all just stopped, and stared. I couldn't tell you what I was thinking. I was having a great time. Please don't let them fight. I will hold back all my anger, if they don't fight. I will resist temptation to put some good use to these heals, if we just walked away.

"How did you know we'd be here?" Roger asked, and Benny gave him a look. He looked around the building. You know, the one they LIVED in.

"Call it a hunch." Benny said sarcastically.

"Okay, then, what are you doing here?" Mark asked.

"I'm here to end this whole thing. Even so, there was no need to kick down the door." Benny said, looking at our attempt at a James Bond scene.

"What's with the change in attitude Benny?" Roger asked fiercely.

"The apartment's yours. Mimi brought me a good case yesterday. She had a lot to say." He said, eyeing Mimi. I looked at both of them. Mimi's furrowed her brow, looking PISSED. Benny looked very satisfied, and Roger looked like he was going to, in the very near future, rip someone's face. I took a step back. "Look, I regret the circumstances we've all been put in for the past week so…"

"Circumstances!" Roger shouted. "Benny, you padlocked our door! You kicked us out of our home! How is that circumstance!" He shouted, getting louder at ever word. Oh Jesus, let a small child wander infront of us so this stops. Please. Benny just sighed, and rolled his eyes, wanting to avoid confrontation as much as I did.

"So, on behalf of Cyber Arts Studios, I had you this permanent key, and lease to the apartment." He said, and to lighting the mood, I joined in clapping.

"Oh that's so great!" I said, and realized no one was with me on that. I just hushed myself and looked away.

"The benevolent God ushers the poor artists back to their flat. Were you planning to the barbed wire also?" Maureen asked, in her usual sarcastic way.

"Listen, we had to clear it out for safety measures, but you're all set to go back." Benny said defensively, pointing up the stairs to the loft.

"I'm very sure that's why you're here instead of at Westport on New Years." Maureen said cattily. Which matched her outfit quite well. Did I mention she was wearing a cat suit? No? Okay.

"To tell you the truth, I'd rather be with you guys tonight." Benny told them, and that's when I feel. I just realized, asshole or not, all of these guys, minus Joanne I'm sure, were friends with Benny. Hell, I used to be friends with him. Now, all of us had turned on him. It wasn't fair…he was doing what he thought was right. He didn't look like he wanted to cause us so much trouble.

"Spare us the shit." Roger spat at him. Benny looked at him, hurt and pissed. He looked at Mimi.

"Mimi, since your ways are so seductive, why don't you persuade you're little boy toy to get the stick out of his ass." Benny said, and Roger walked up to him.

"What?" he asked severely.

"Why don't you tell him what you wore at my place Mimi, when we…discussed the subject of your living situation." Benny said. Oh no he did not. Collins and I jumped towards the couple, I was holding Mimi back, and Roger was held back, barely, by Collins, who was eventually helped by Mark, who put his camera down.

"Liar!" Roger shouted.

"I was on my way to work, and that was ALL!" Mimi screamed, ready to kill Benny. Benny simply moved back, and stood on the first step of the staircase.

"By the way Mimi, I'm still a bit sore." Benny said, and smirked.

"From where I kicked your ass!" Mimi shouted. She tried to lunge again, but I got her.

"Well, does your boyfriend realize who I am?" Benny shouted back at her.

"I am NOT her boyfriend, and I don't a shit about what she does, or what she did!" Roger shouted, and I let go of Mimi. Now I was pissed.

"HEY!" I screamed. Everyone looked at me, a bit stressed. "Look at all of you! I came to this little shindig to celebrate New Year's with my friends, and get them back their living space, and have fun. This is no way to start a New Year, fighting with someone who is probably still sore over losing his cat." I said, and everyone looked down. Thank God, they shut up, and hey, a plus, I was the center of attention again.

"It was my dog Angel but thanks, I appreciate it." Benny said softly. I walked over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"My kitten had a fall once too honey. I went through hell over it. I know exactly how you feel." I told him, and he nodded, sighing.

"Yeah it's like losing a part of the, wait," He said, and looked up at me. "How did you know she fell?" He asked, and Collins jumped in.

"Champagne Benny?" He asked quickly, and I slunk back into the crowd, and Mark gave me a look. I smacked his hand.

"Shh." I told him, and he smirked. Mimi grabbed my hand, and Joanne and Collins poured champagne for us, Maureen handing out little plastic glasses.

"Let's make a resolution!" I said, and raised my glass.

"Let's always stay friends!" Collins said, holding me, lifting his glass with mine.

"Do we have a choice?" Mark asked, and we laughed.

"We just keep coming back to each other, so I guess not." Joanne said, and smiled.

"This family tree's got deep roots." Maureen said, and I smiled, and kissed her cheek. She laughed, and hugged me. The only one who didn't seem to be getting in on this was Roger. Who should be making out with my Mimi. I walked over to him.

"Don't make that face. It's going to be a happy New Year, and you know it." I told him.

"I guess." He grunted, and I pushed him towards Mimi, and She looked at him, and he looked down at her, and smiled. "You're right." He said, and I walked off to find Collins, who was drinking right from the bottle. Oh great. I kissed his cheek.

"Baby, not so fast." I told him, and laughed, he just smiled, and giggled. I rolled my eyes. He was such a dufus. He leaned down to kiss me, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Happy New Year baby." He whispered softly, and I smiled happily, and kissed him.

This was going to be the best year of my life. I could tell.


	12. In Sunsets

It began to get warmer out after January had past. Even so, Collins and I would still snuggle at night as if the world would freeze over. However, I was left cold and alone one morning. I woke up, rather cranky that the first thing in the morning I didn't see was Collins's face. I was also hungry, very hungry. I didn't eat the night before…I'd rather not discuss why, it was completely voluntary, and Collins was all for it. I'll leave it at that.

So, I wake up, and looked at the lonely pillowcase next to me. He's not there. Where could he have gone? Not to work, not this early, no he only helped out after school. He would have woken me if he had to go anyway. Wasn't it Saturday? I don't even know what day it is. My mind just figured he had to go to the bathroom. I sat up and stretched, rubbing my eyes, and looked around my room. I looked back at the pillowcase he was sleeping on last night, and my eyes widened. A single white rose lay against his pillow. That was what made me want to get up. I threw the blankets off myself, and put a long t-shirt on, covering my knees. It wasn't mine. I ran to the sheet to go to the big room, which Collins calls it, but before I could, my lover immediately halted me into a deep kiss. Found him. He wrapped his arms around me. It scared me, but that feeling only lasted for a second. He must have been waiting there for a long time. I just kissed him back. Why was he acting like this? I wasn't complaining, I just didn't know where this was coming from.

Did I do something last night? Oh, now I know. I didn't make him use a condom. That doesn't make any sense though. All this for a condom? They weren't that expensive. Did he know something I didn't? Oh my God. I'm pregnant aren't I-Angel seriously, shut up.

I opened my eyes almost immediately after I felt his hands creeping up the shirt I wore to my behind. Sorry baby, I just woke up. I broke his kiss, and nonetheless, he smiled at me happily, and nuzzled up to my face. That cute goofy smile on his face. I giggled, I couldn't help it.

"Tom, baby, what's gotten into you this morning?" I asked him, and giggled happily as his fingers lightly touched my thigh. I'm too ticklish, or so he says.

"I thought out of all people you would know." He said, and kissed my ear, making me laugh again, and I hit his chest.

"Stop that." I told him, and he shook his head. "Baby, what's going on?" I asked him again, and he looked at me.

"Surely at least Mimi would have told you." He told me, and I thought about it. I gasped.

"I'm not pregnant am I?" I asked him, almost horrified. He proceeded to laugh louder than I've ever heard him. He let go of me, and held his knees.

"Angel cake!" He almost shouted. Angel cake, that's what he called me. I liked it, but I ignored it for now. I wanted to know what was so funny.

"What?" I whined, and pouted. He looked up at me, and laughed again, standing up. He looked at me curiously, and held me again.

"Angel…sweetie, are you kidding?" He asked, and I sighed.

"Collins! Not that. I meant what's gotten into you." I told him, getting annoyed, and he sensed it immediately, and kissed my jaw, and whispered in my ear.

"Happy Valentine's Day my Angel cake." He told me softly, and I squealed happily, and kissed him with everything I could muster. Valentine's Day, no wonder I forgot. I hadn't played Valentine since I was a kid. I just kind of gave up on it, thought it was stupid, but now I have someone to share it with. It is a meaningless, Hallmark, mainstream holiday. But if it gives me an excuse to make out with Collins in public, I'm fine with it. He let go of me, and kissed my nose. "Now, I made you some breakfast. We'll eat, and I want you to get dressed and prettied up for today, okay?" He asked me, and I giggled.

"Okay." I said, and he walked me over to the couch, and sat me down. I watched him go to the kitchen nook and bring over a plate of pancakes. You know, the kind with strawberries and whipped cream. My heart melted. We never ate like this, last time we did was the first time he was over. I looked at him pathetically. He set the plate down, and looked into my eyes.

"Don't give me that look Angel. You scare me sometimes when I watch you eat." He told me sternly. "You'll eat every bite of this." He said, and I went right to the pout. "Hey! Bad Angel. I want you to be nice and fat for me." He told me, and my eyes got all big. No, bad COLLINS. I am not getting fat. No, none of that madness. He chuckled, and leaned up to me. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you burn it off." He said in a low voice. I smiled at him, and kissed him sweetly, and he took it for a few seconds. "Now eat sweetheart." He said, and handed me a plate.

"Thank you so much baby." I told him, and took a bite of pancake, and smiled. He was really good at these. I saw him make them last time. He adds vanilla and chocolate extract to the mix. He's too cute. He wrapped an arm around me, and held me close as he ate.

"You're welcome." He said softly, his mouth full of food. I giggled, and took another bite.

"You're a pig." I told him, and realized I still had food in my mouth while I was talking too. He laughed.

"Oh really?" He asked me, and in retaliation, I wiped some of my whipped cream on his nose. He laughed again, and I giggled, licking it off of him. He gave me a smirk, his arm held me closer. He took my plate and put it on the table, and his went in his lap. He put a strawberry on his fork, and fed it to me. This is exactly how I pictured Valentine's Day to be. I loved him so much. He was trying to help me when I didn't need it. I almost couldn't wait to see what he did when I did need help.

When breakfast was over, which took close to an hour and a half, but we don't play by those silly rules, Collins told me to go in the shower. I smiled at him, and walked to the bathroom after stealing one of the hundreds I stole from him that morning. I shut the door, and turned on the water, hoping it would warm up once I got my pajamas off. When I stepped in, I was lucky. It was pretty warm. I would have to be quick because it might not stay that way. I soaped myself up, and reached for my shampoo, and while I did, I pricked my finger. I jumped, and placed the hurt finger in my mouth, and opened my eyes. I looked on the little sill that held my shampoo, and there was an orange rose there. My heart melted, but came back to life when the water got cold, cold very fast.

I quick shampooed and rinsed my body off. I grabbed a wet and soapy washcloth to shave my legs with after I turned the water off. I doubt there was a reason I was shaving. I did last night, and I was going to be wearing at least tights all day. I knew I had to shave my face. Worst part of the day, shaving my face. It was okay shaving my legs, you know, because normal women did that. Normal women didn't shave their faces. Girls didn't have facial hair, with the few exceptions of course. But, they don't have a few other things I have. Collins doesn't complain about that.

I walked out of the bathroom, a towel around my hair, and a bathrobe on. Collins was doing dishes, and I walked into the bedroom. I grabbed a few things from my closet. I took my bathrobe off, and put on a pair of underwear and hot pink tights, then another pair of underwear. It's been a habit of mine since I was little. On went a red skirt, and a white sweater. Even that couldn't be warm enough. I put on pink legwarmers to match my tights, and white Mary-Jane's. I took the towel off my head, and dried my hair, and pulled it back in a net, and sat myself down in front of my mirror, and opened a big box of make-up. Cover-up first, then rogue and red lipstick, then I played around with shades of pink and red on my eyelashes, and heavy mascara. I figured my face was absolutely perfect, so I moved to the last bit, and opened my closet again, and took out a head mannequin with my black bob wig on it. I brushed it out carefully, and placed a little red heart barrette in it. I smiled, and placed it on my head carefully, and placed in necessary bobbypins. I stood, did a little twirl for the mirror, and walked out for Collins, who had now moved to the windowsill, smoking. He was looking out the window, which was open. He didn't want me to inhale the smoke. I thought that was just too cute. I walked over to him, and sat behind him, and began to massage his shoulders, kissing his jaw.

"I'm ready baby." I told him softly, and he turned to face me, getting a nice kiss. He let go, and stood up. I sat back on the sill and smiled up at him. He stared at me, and took my hand gently, standing me up.

"Turn around for me girl." He told me, and I did a little spin, and he stopped with his hands when my back was to him. "That's my favorite." He said, and I turned my head to look at him, but I felt a pressure on my behind again, and I jumped.

"Collins!" I said, and faced him, grinning. "You're very fresh mister man." I said, and he grabbed me, holding me tight, lifting me off the ground a bit. I held on for my dear life, even though I knew he couldn't drop me. I cracked up, his hair tickling my neck. "Hey! Put me down!" I shouted, laughing. He lifted me up higher, until I was about two feet off the ground, and looking down at him, holding his arms for support. "I've got a nice shot of you if I wanna hurt you." I threatened, squeezing his arms, freaking out. He gave me a look.

"But you wouldn't." He said smirking, and I lifted on of my feet back, ready to kick.

"You wanna bet?" I asked him, and his facial expression changed.

"Okay." He said, sighing, and set me up on his shoulders. I screamed, and held onto his head, and he grabbed my legs. "You aren't going anywhere cake." He told me, and pushed my skirt up so it wasn't covering up his face.

"That's what you think." I muttered, and swung my legs, hitting his chest which my heels lightly.

"Don't be so grumpy Ang'." He said, and walked over to the couch. Before he could sit, I grabbed a hold of a pipe coming from the ceiling, and held myself up that way. He sat down, but I didn't go with him. I turned around on the pipe so I sort of faced him. He looked up at me, and raised an eyebrow. "Now, how are you getting down baby?" He asked me, and I smiled. Now he was going to get it. I let go of the pipe, and fell into his lap like a rag doll. I laughed as his body jumped and his arms caught me. I had done it before, I wouldn't hurt myself, but he just made my life.

"I'm a big girl, I can do it myself." I told him, and kissed his nose.

"You're a big girl who's going to earn herself a concussion soon." He told me, and I rolled my eyes.

"No." I told him, and he stood up, keeping me up, my legs wrapped around his waist. He held my thighs, and nuzzled my nose, and nodded his head. I shook mine, and we continued our nose war for a while until he kicked the apartment door open with his foot. I slid off of him as we left the room. "Where are we going?" I asked him, and he just looked towards the stairs.

"Outside." He told me, and I huffed out.

"Smart ass." I muttered, and he pinched my behind, causing me to squeal, and jump a bit. I rubbed my behind, and looked at him. "No, seriously, where are we going?" I asked him, and he just shrugged. I groaned dramatically. "Cooolllliiiinnnnsss…" I moaned, and he chuckled, holding me tight as we walked out of the building.

"What? You just need to be patient young lady." He told me, and I pouted again. I knew I wasn't going to get my way. "You'll love it cake, just wait." He told me, and I sighed.

"I had better, or I'll kill you." I muttered, and he laughed.

"Now, first place we need to be is the loft." He said, and pulled be down the street toward Mark and Roger's. I looked at him funny, and looked up at him.

"Why?" I asked, wondering how those two would help on Valentine's Day.

"You'll see when we get there." He said, and I groaned again.

"Just shoot me with a horse tranquilizer and wake me up when you're ready." I mumbled, and he sighed.

"Angel cake, it's going to be worth it. Now stop being such a scutch." He told me.

"I can't help it." I mumbled, walking funny now, I was so anxious. "I've never done this sort of thing before." I admitted. He looked down at me.

"Seriously?" he asked, as we entered the depths of the staircase of Mark and Roger's loft.

"Yeah, seriously." I said, and sighed. I really didn't want to talk about my lack of experience with my current lover. Permanent lover.

"That's a bit shocking." He said, and held me tighter, rubbing my arm.

"Yeah, and I do not want to talk about it." I told him, and he shrugged.

"Fine, I understand." He said, and laid a kiss on my head. He knocked on Roger and Mark's door, and opened it. "Where are ya, crazy crackers?" He shouted, and I laughed.

"Oh Collins." I mumbled, and he kissed me sweetly. I kissed him back, and hands on his arm, and we heard a cough. We let go of each other, and looked to where the cough came from. Both Mark and Roger stood in front of us.

"Having a good time?" Roger asked, and lifted an eyebrow. I blushed, and giggled.

"Jealous Roger?" I asked him, and winked. He took a step back. I walked over to Roger, and gave him a hug, and kissed his cheek. He tensed up immediately, and I laughed. "Oh sweetie, it's alright. You won't catch my gay or anything." I told him, and Collins snorted. I looked at Mark, who stood there, like Mark always did. Poor sweetie. I walked over to him, and did the same routine, and whispered gently into his ear, "Happy Valentine's Day Markie." I heard him laugh faintly, and I grinned at him. Those wild blue eyes always made my day, no matter how sad or down he was.

"Thanks Angel." He replied and showed me a bit of a smile. "You too." He added, and I laughed. Roger cleared his throat and took Collins by the arm and walked him into the hallway. My eyes followed them, and I began to walk, wondering where they were going, but Mark grabbed my arm, keeping my back. I could have gotten out of his grip, but there wasn't any need. I looked at him, and sighed, walking over to the couch. He followed me, and sat next to me, but kept a small distance. He was so cute.

"You have any plans today?" I asked him, and he sighed, fiddling with his hands.

"I did about four months ago." He said, and looked at me, smirking. He needed someone, he really did. Not Maureen, I love the girl, but honestly, she wasn't right for him, or anyone who didn't want their heart broken.

"You just wait sweet thing, you'll have your chance." I told him, and rubbed his arm. He looked up at me, and smiled awkwardly, or like Mark always would when he didn't know what to say. He looked me over, like he often did. I didn't find it weird, usually, it as just him adjusting to my outfits. Today, mine was pretty modest though.

"You look nice today." He said, and I giggled, holding his hand and squeezing it.

"Thanks baby!" I squealed, and kissed him lightly on the lips. I would do that from time to time with Mark. Of course, I would only save my real kisses for Collins. He never expected them though, you could tell, because his eyes were always really wide when I looked back at him, and he went from Caucasian to this Cabaret type of red. Just as we parted, or at least, until I let him go, Collins and Roger emerged, Collins carrying a bag with him. I stood up.

"Come on baby let's go..." He said, looking at me, and down at Mark. Seeing his face, Collins frowned. "Something wrong? You look sick." Collins asked, and I giggled. Mark's face was still really red.

"No...no..." Mark muttered nervously. "Just...yeah...there's nothing wrong. Don't worry about it." He said, and Collins sighed.

"Alright then." He said, and began to walk, but took my hand first. "You two be good, and thanks again!" He said, and saluted them good-bye. He walked me out of the loft after I quickly waved to the two boys. After he closed the door, I looked at Collins with my arms crossed. "What?" He asked me.

"What's in that bag?" I asked him, and poked his stomach. He winced, and rubbed where I hurt him.

"You'll see baby." He told me, and yanked my arm to make me follow, but I stood my ground. He turned to looked into my eyes, and he gave me the face. That puppy dog sexy persuasive dark look that always got his way. I groaned.

"Nooo..." I whined, and he chuckled, knowing I was caving in.

"Come on lovely." He told me and kissed me sweetly. After, he looked into my eyes, and I sighed.

"Only if I can have another kiss." I said, and he grinned, kissing me again, holding the small of my back. We stood there for a bit, and the loft door opened. I turned quickly, Collins's lips still attached to my face. Roger stood there, a face of annoyance painted on.

"I honestly hate the both of you." He grumbled and walked past us. Collins and I looked at each other, and laughed, and he took me by the hand and began to walk outside, to wherever he seemed like it was such a good place to go, when I was just fine snuggling on the couch with Chinese food. I really was. Maybe a necklace, but that's it. Really, that's all.

But here he was, trying to impress me, going out of his way to make me feel happy, make me love him. He didn't need any help in that department. I didn't need him to show off for me, and buy me things. I'm fine with him. And that necklace.

He led me outside and he waved at a taxi, and we climbed in. Okay, a taxi? Ew, no thank you, I'd really rather not Collins. He pulled me in however, and I sighed, shutting the door.

"To the train station please." Collins requested, and the taxi started back up again. I looked at Collins.

"The TRAIN?" I asked him, and made a face. "Baby, why are we going on the train?" I asked. Maybe he meant the subway and said train on accident. He shrugged at me, and smiled. He snaked an arm around my waist, and kissed my neck sweetly, and I couldn't help but laugh, and smack at one of his hands, which rested on my hip. "Collins, stop, we are in a taxi."

"I'm pretty sure he's seen worse." Collins whispered to me in a gruff voice. "Just let me have my fun baby." He muttered, and continued with my neck. I squirmed, not because I didn't enjoy it of course, I was having a pretty good time really, I just didn't feel that making out was something you did in a taxi. "Oh come on Angel." Collins said, and looked up at me. Oh I have seen that face before, it was the exact same face he used before while he was...well...nevermind. I'd rather not talk about Collins's sex faces right now. This one killed me. He looked up at me seriously, a bit of a pout in his eyes. I sighed at him.

"I hate you so much." I muttered, and leaned back against the door of the taxi. Collins laughed, and leaned down to kiss me, and I took it. Okay, come on, were you surprised? I wrapped my arms around his neck, and continued our little party in the backseat of a taxi. We didn't changed our position once until the taxi stopped. Well, besides the groping, nothing about it changed really. Collins immediately lets go of me, and I laugh my head off. What was going on in his head that made him do the kinds of things he did. He paid the driver, and got out of the taxi with his things, raced to my side, and opened the door for me. I smiled at him as he took my hand. I stood up, and he shut the door, and we walked into the station hand in hand. "So...why the train?" I asked him.

"Because I don't have a car." He said simply, and kissed my cheek. I thought about giving up on asking him where we were going, and then I realized that's not like me at all. And he very well knew that much.

So, he buys us two tickets, but makes me stand a bit away from him so I can't hear the destination. He comes back, tickets in his hand, and I try to snatch them away, but he taps my hands lightly, and shoves them into his front pockets. I grumble, knowing there is no sneaky way to go at grabbing anything from those pockets.

"Come on you lovely little thing you." He says and walks me to wherever our train is supposed to be. We get to the tracks, and a spot on a bench is open. He takes his coat off and lays it down on the bench, and sits me down. Okay, so have you ever seen a ridiculously romantic movie, and the guy does something that makes you get all lumpy in the throat? Yeah, well, picture that times ten. That's how I felt at that moment. I pouted because he had nowhere to sit, someone had already taken space on the other side.

"Where are you going to sit?" I asked him softly, and took his hand. He just laughed.

"I'm going to stand." He told me, and squeezed my hand as I took his. I shook my head at him. Like hell he was going to stand. I stood up.

"Now, you sit, and I'll sit on your lap." I told him, and he laughed, sitting on his coat, and he quickly pulled me by the waist, and pulled me into his lap. His big arms wrapped around me like they had since we met. Those were my big strong arms, and I knew it. I loved this feeling so much. The only sound that mattered was his heart beating against his chest. That was until I heard a whistle of the train a few minutes later. I opened my eyes and watched as the train came towards our stop. I poked Collins lightly to wake him. It took him ten seconds to fall asleep. He grumbled, and looked down at me, smiling.

"Good morning." He mumbled and laughed, standing me up slowly before he got himself up. I stayed close to him, sort of sleepy after that, and I'm sure he was too. We got on the train, and I sat at the window when we found a seat. As Collins slept, like he would a lot, I figured it would amuse me to watch the landscape go by, and so Collins wouldn't have to sleep on a window. So, I sit down, he follows and sits next to me, placing my hand in his lap for his own amusement. I take my jacket off, and place it between me and the window, cushioning it if I want to doze off. Collins watched me, and pulled me close.

"Hey, I am not your pillow." I said, and laughed at him. He chuckled, and kissed the top of my head.

"Well, I'm your pillow. You can't tell me that the window is more comfortable than me." Collins said, and I giggled.

"No, can't say that I could." I told him, and let myself close my eyes in his arms. Couldn't say I remember much past that because I fell asleep. I don't know how long I was asleep, few hours, because when I woke up, the sun was setting. Collins had got a large meal, and two drinks. I yawned, and sat up, listening to Collins munch on a piece of toast. I rubbed my eyes, and stretched, looking at him. He smiled.

"Well, hello there sleepy head." He said, and kissed me sweetly, and I kissed him back, looking at his food.

"How long've I been sleeping?" I asked him, and took a piece of toast from his plate.

"'Bout four hours." He said, and grinned. "I went to sleep for a while too, but they woke me up to order some food." He told me, and kissed my cheek, squishing my face. I laughed and turned my face to kiss his lips. He quickly licked my lips. "Mmm...buttered Angel." He muttered, and we both laughed. "We should be stopping soon." He told me, and I tilted my head.

"Where would that be?" I asked, seeing if he was tired enough to let one slip, but he wasn't. He never was.

"We're still in America honey, don't worry." He said, and I smiled.

"HA! That only leaves forty-nine unspecific destinations!" I said, and then thought. "Oh...wait...make that forty-eight." I added, and he laughed.

"What?" He asked me.

"Well, we can't very well ride a train to Hawaii, now can we baby?" I asked him, all proud of myself that I knew Hawaii wasn't part of the mainland. You have to give me props, I didn't even finish high school. He laughed, and kissed my cheek.

"No, no you can't." He said, and smiled, resting his face on my cheek where he laid his kiss.

"You might as well tell me now honey. I mean, you've narrowed it down SO much. You might as well." I told him and he continued to laugh into my cheek. I knew he was about to say something, but was interrupted when the intercom of the train went off. Or, at least I assume that's what it was. All I heard was this monotone voice that was muffled from bad wire connections and lack of sleep. I had no idea what was being said, but Collins heard every god damn word. He sat up as the train began to slow down. He grabbed the backpack he had from the loft and stood up. I stood with him, and the train came to a halt.

"I guess you'll just have to find out in a minute." He said, and walked infront of me off the train. When we were off, he stepped to the side, letting me see a large green traffic sign on the highway.

"Welcome to Boston, Massachusetts?" I read, and looked at him curiously. He looked so proud of himself. It cracked me up, but seriously, Massachusetts? What the hell was here that wasn't in New York? He nodded, and took my hand, and lead my into the city.

"Ever been here?" He asked me, and I shook my head.

"No...but...what's this all about?" I asked him, he squeezed my hand.

"First night we were together, you told me something." He started to explain, but didn't go any further. Wow, that was an understatement. I don't think I shut up once at all that night.

"Along with a few others...?" I asked, trying to move him along.

"You told me something that shocked me, and I don't think that it's right at all." He continued as we walked down the dark blocks of Massachusetts. I saw Asian stores, a lot of them. I couldn't help but think that where we were wasn't where I wanted to be. Asian S&M stores aren't my thing, you know?

"What was it?" I asked him, keeping my attention on him and not the creepy porn movie stores.

"You'll see baby, now stop it." He said, "It's too late in the game for me to give up." He said as we crossed a less than busy street. Two way traffic. Um, okay, that's dangerous. I almost died because I didn't look both ways. Was Collins trying to kill me? We made it to the other side of the road, and I swear I could have squeezed his arm off if I had a tighter grip. He held a hand over mine to try and get me off. I looked up at him and let go. He took that hand in his, and I looked around as we walked. It was a park, like central park, but less homeless. Infact, there were very few. I could hear crickets, comforting sounds of silent cars. The park was full of little gardens and tall statues of war heroes, graves of veterans, we even passed a statue of Washington on his horse. It was beautiful. No neon lights, no extra razzle dazzle everywhere, just calm serenity. Collins stopped and dropped his bag. I looked down at him, watching him as he took out two large blankets. I tilted me head as I watched him curiously.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Come here and sit." He told me as he laid out the first blanket, and I sat like he said. "Now, close your eyes baby girl." He whispered, and I followed his orders. I didn't think twice about it, until he took my shoes off.

"Hey!" I shouted, and he kissed me.

"Shh...it's alright baby. I'll let you open them in a second." He said, and I could feel him next to me. "Lay down." He said, and I laid back on a comfortable mound of fabric and cotton. It was pretty comfy and warm. I felt his arms around me, and I snuggled up close to him, making sure he was there right next to me. "Now open your eyes baby." He whispered, and I did. I saw his face and, unlike usual, he wasn't looking at me. His eyes pointed up, and mine followed. I looked up at the sky, and gasped.

"Oh my God..." I muttered, and sat up. The sky was as dark as anything I've ever seen. The only thing keeping it from darkening the rest of the world were tiny little bright pin points, stars. I was so taken aback that he took what I had said to heart. I didn't lie, I had never seen stars before, and I've always tried to. These little things weren't a night on the town, or a fancy dinner, or a diamond necklace, they were real. They were always there. They were priceless, the most beautiful things in the world, and among the moons, and glowing planets, Collins gave them to me.

I laid back in his arms, and kissed him lovingly. As he kissed me back, I realized how well he knew me. How well her cared for me. Buying a necklace was easy, cheap, and a quick way for sex. Collins wasn't out for that for me. I had necklaces, I had gone out to eat, I have had sex. Collins knew that. Collins also knew that I hadn't seen the stars, because he listened, no matter how drunk he was that night. And that couldn't hold a candle to all the riches in the world.


	13. Lonely Blue

It was more than perfect. What we shared everyday over our corrupted lives was worth the corruption, the fights, the tears, everything. Usually, this was the time when I would get bored, we would constantly fight, and then just break up. That wasn't near the case. Of course, unlike Mimi's accusations, we did fight, dumb things really, but nothing that lasted over two days. Actually, most of the fights were ended because I didn't like the thought of him sleeping on the couch, which he made himself do when he didn't think I was in a good mood. I remember the biggest fight that happened actually. He had come home early I guess, and I was out working.

Before I tell you this story, I have to tell you what I do for a living. It's not just drumming. No, that's a hobby. I could never make rent and food and clothing money off a few quarters a day. Although, people were often surprisingly generous, it still isn't enough to live off of. So, since I left school early, since I had nothing else, I sold myself. It's hard to tell people this, it really is. Innocent Angel, she's a hooker? Well, not so seriously anymore, with the AIDS and things, but the money from killing that puppy was going down, and I needed it. Collins had been working, but I felt bad, so every so often, when he was working, I'd go out. I could make over a hundred a night, so it wasn't something I did a lot, but when I came home that night, seeing him at home, well, it was hard.

So, Collins tutors on weekdays after morning classes, and he usually gets home late, like ten. I try to only stay out a few hours, get home at nine. That night I did get home at around nine, ready to go clean the messy make-up, change, the whole nine yards, even maybe cook out of guilt before Collins came home. I was too late. I walked into the apartment, not expecting anyone to be there. I threw my bag on the floor, and I heard something. Collins was at the windowsill smoking a joint. I jumped, once again, not expecting anyone to be there. My appearance spoke for itself really, red fishnets, five-inch stilettos, long curly black wig, dark make-up, really not something I would wear on a regular basis. He looked me over for a few seconds. I thought about bullshitting my way out of this, but I figured he needed to know. He probably didn't want to know, but he needed to. He put his joint down in an ashtray, and crossed his arms.

"Where the fuck have you been?" He asked me angrily. That pissed me off. I know he loves me, and gets worried, but there was no need for that attitude. I was all out ready to explain to him, but that got me fired up, and I had a few drinks earlier. I put my hand on my hip and pointed at him.

"Don't you give me that shit Collins. I come home after not seeing you for a good day now, and you give me that attitude. Oh no, that is not happening." I said, and I marched to the bedroom. I heard him run after my and grab my arm. He spun me around to face him.

"Angel, just answer my question, I have been waiting for you for close to five hours. Then I see you coming home, looking like you just came back from a slut fest, what the hell am I supposed to act like?" He asked, annoyance ever present in his eyes. I stared them down.

"Maybe if you would just trust me Collins. I'm not out to cheat on you every second I get." I told him.

"Then where were you?" He asked, and I ripped my arm out of his grip.

"Keeping us alive, that's what!" I shouted, the first time I shouted at Collins, at least in an angry way. He stepped back, giving me this weird look.

"What were you doing?" He asked again, and gently took both of my forearms in his hands, bending down and looked up at me. I turned my head, and shook it slowly. I was slowly dropping out of the ring. I was afraid, guilty, I couldn't tell him. "Angel." He said sternly but very softly.

"I'm not cheating on you Collins." I said, and looked him in the eyes, through my own that were becoming cloudy with tears. I was ashamed of myself.

"Then where were you sweetheart?" He asked, fully aware than his dignity and all that would be lost just by giving in to me. I couldn't take that; he didn't deserve this. "I don't care, tell me, you were out with Mimi doing lines, I don't care Angel, just tell me." He said, and I broke down. He frowned, and rubbed my shoulder. Sighing, her lifted my chin to look into my eyes. "It's that bad is it?" He asked, figuring I wouldn't be crying if I were just out with Maureen drinking a soda. I nodded my head. How could I tell him? What was even the right term, prostitute, hooker, slut?

At that moment, he sighed again, and picked me up like a small child, and placed me in his lap as he sat on the couch. He wiped the tears from my cheek, and kissed my temple lightly.

"Just tell me what it is baby." He said softly, and rubbed my back, and I knew from the pain in his voice, he hoped I was just snorting crack with Mimi at the club. I sat up, and looked into his eyes. I took his hand, hoping I wouldn't die telling him. My heart was beating so fast I could barely sit up.

"Collins…I really don't know how to tell you this, but I'm a…" I didn't know how to word it. I got angry with myself, I got angry with him. "I a fucking hooker!" I screamed, and broke down again into my hands. I felt him shift, and he lifted me up off him. I looked over at him, and wiped my face. He was getting up, and walked over to the door. "Where are you going?" I asked, pitifully.

"To the loft." He said, sounding as angry as anything, and shut the door. I shouted at the door afterwards, hoping he would hear my pathetic pleas and come back, and hold me. I didn't see him for three days.

I told Mimi about the whole idea, well, no duh. She was the reason he came back at all. She told him I wanted him back, I was a wreck, I needed him back. I knew she did, because on that third day, I sat, miserable, drinking lukewarm tea on my couch, and he came in. I wasn't dressed up, no make-up, nothing. Just a t-shirt and jeans. One of his t-shirts actually. When he walked in, I looked at him, stood up, and ran over to him. I wrapped my arms around him, and buried my face in his chest, and just cried. He knew, and wrapped his arms around me, resting his face on the top of my head. I could figure we stood like that for about a half an hour.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled after a long pause. "I'm sorry I hurt you Collins." I told him, and he lifted my chin, and kissed me as sweetly as he possibly could. He let go, and I looked into his eyes.

"And I'm sorry. No matter what you were doing, I shouldn't have acted like that; it's your life Angel. You do what you want with it." He whispered, and I shook my head.

"No, I'm glad you got mad, I guess." I said, thinking. "You're just trying to save me, and I love you for it." I said, and he kissed me again, holding my hand softly, massaging the palm with his fingers. "I love you." I said inbetween kisses. He moans lightly in my mouth, holds me close. I can feel his hands wandering down my backside and I drop the kiss. "Collins…baby…can we…not?" I asked him softly, and he examined my face for a second, and nodded.

"Of course sweetie, I know, I should have." He said softly, and we walked to our bedroom. Of course, when we got in bed, we made out for an hour, but nothing else. Sex had another part in my life now, and for a few weeks it ruined that part of my life with Collins. He was very anxious, but patient. Just snuggling at the loft, where Roger and Mark were very happy to see us. The whole fight means nothing now of course. Collins sometimes teases me for it, calling me a slut, even declining sex, afraid that I would ask him for a bill afterwards. In retaliation, I would call him a pussy, and he would call me a liar, it didn't make any sense, that I was a gay man, so he couldn't be a pussy. He always won play fights; he had a good talent for that.

As we lay in each other's arms in bed, he would kiss me at random intervals, whisperings sweet nothings in my ear, making me giggle. It was like the night we met and made love for the first time. He was treating me like a queen.


	14. Itch To Be A Bitch

**Okay, before I give you the next chapter, hell, before I WRITE the next chapter, I want to thank you guys. I just went through all your reviews (not the first time, trust me), and I couldn't find one negative thing. If there were, it was all backed up by constructive criticism. I really appreciate that SO much. You have no idea how good it makes me feel when that stupid little hotmail alert pops up saying I have an e-mail from from an Akita Evita reviewer. It makes my LIFE. **

**Personally, I think you're all fucking nuts, but I do thank you nonetheless. However, as sweet as it is for this all to happen, there is a sour side. Like those sour patch kids commercials. Which I think are REALLY creepy. Angel is only alive until Halloweenish, and the last one I wrote…the second to last one I wrote was Valentine's Day. I have about…three different ways I could end this (that's not any time real soon, don't worry. About five more chapters and our baby gets the axe), but I can't decide which way to do it. So, since you guys are actually amazing, and the reason I continue this god-forsaken thing, I want to ask you a question regarding my choice of an ending. **

**So, here is my question for you lovely people:**

**Did you like the actual ending of the movie Chris Columbus chose, or the alternative ending? You can view both on YouTube if you haven't seen it: other one…I dunno. Um…somewhere on the interwebs. Or, go watch the movie, godammit:D**

**So, if you can do that for me, it'll make ending this segment a WHHHHOOOOLLLEEE lot easier. I really don't want to ruin it, because either way, it'll be a pleasant ending, or tolerable ending, but either can be SCREWED up if not done right. So just answer whether you like the 'stay in the plot ending' or the 'go back to rehearsal ending'. Okay. Now for the damn chapter. I have no idea what it'll be about.**

**EDITING: Okay, so I finished now.Just a warning, sexual content. Nothing bad just a little head. Seriously, it's more funny than sexy.And sorry for the NYTW title there. I couldn't think of a good chapter title, so I cheated. Still from RENT thought. ;D**

I had been in and out of my bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen since about five in the morning. It is about noon currently, and in about two hours, Collins would be home. Not from work, no, not from going out, no, but because we would play guest to two very important figures in his family, his parents. His mother, over the phone it seemed, had never been my biggest fan, his father absolutely adored me. He was a funny old man really, didn't tell the truth a lot. He was ignorant to the reality of what I was; I don't think he cared much. His mother knew, and she made sure that Collins knew. Everytime she called, Collins had to send me out of the room so he could deal with her attitude. As much as I didn't like Mrs. Collins, I had no choice but to impress her. She was Collins's mother; I couldn't just let her hate me.

Now, it was a day before Easter and that's why they were coming down from Boston. Collins couldn't take off from work to go to Boston, so they came down here to see their only child before going back to New England to have a bigger party. Collins thought about inviting some of our friends, but there was one loophole, Mark. Mark is Jewish. He didn't believe in Easter and he knew that wouldn't impress his parents. Roger wouldn't go with Mark. Mimi could go with him, but they'd make-out the whole time. Maureen and Joanne were a NO, they'd end up fighting over something stupid, Joanne would be nice to have around by herself, but that really wouldn't fly for a number of reasons. One, Maureen would not allow it and two, Collins is black, Joanne is black and lawyer, and I'm a guy. Mrs. Collins will be all over that in a second, regardless of the fact that Joanne is a hardcore dyke and thinks of penis as the root of all evil.

So, I'm in the apartment by myself, cooking, cleaning, getting rid of anything possible. I snagged Mimi's nice big table for the kitchen, moved the couch against the wall, and placed a nice white sheet over it, and placed magazines under the dead leg. The kitchen was clean, and that took me forever. I had water boiling, coffee brewing, and a nice little turkey in the oven. I was just finishing mashed potatoes when someone knocked on the door. I cursed, threw my apron on the counter, and walked over to the door. I knew it wasn't Collins, he wouldn't have knocked. I opened the door and there she was. I looked around her, confused. She was alone? What was going on?

"Did I do something?" I asked her, and she laughed. I always asked Joanne those kinds of things when she was looking for me. I don't know, she's a lawyer, right?

"No Angel, you didn't do anything. Collins told me to come over." She said, and walked into the apartment. I looked at her confused.

"What did _he _do?" I asked her, hoping he didn't need more bail money. I spent all our money on this dinner. She laughed again, and looked around.

"No, nothing like that. He just figured you'd need some help. He knew you'd be all over this place, fixing, moving, cleaning, cooking, dressing, and he didn't want you to hurt yourself." She told me, and looked at me.

"What is he stupid?" I asked rhetorically. It was sweet of Joanne to come over, I did barely get to see her and spend time with just her, but I was a manic. If anyone got in my way while I was fixing something up, I'd kill them. Joanne laughed, knowing the truth.

"Don't worry Angel, I'll stay out of your way. Listen, let me just fix up the spare room for them. Trust me, if there is one thing I know, it's about crazy religious African American old people." She assured me, and smiled, walking over to the spare room.

"Thank you so much Joanne." I said before she left my sight. She looked at me from over her shoulder and continued walking to the spare room. I looked at the door for a minute and went back to by cooking.

After about an hour, I put everything on a simmer so it wouldn't burn or anything until dinner. I hadn't heard from Joanne, except after the first few minutes when she came out with a trash bag of junk and threw it away. I had just finished making last minute things, and she came out of the room. I looked at her and she smiled at me.

"Now, I'm not usually so full of myself Angel, but that right there is one clean room." She said, and grinned. I giggled. It was weird, because as I was cooking, I didn't really notice it before. Both Joanne and I had a lot in common, but we just didn't connect. Joanne didn't really connect with a lot of us; it was just for Maureen that we knew her.

"Thanks again Joanne. What would I do without you?" I asked and smiled, looking through the fridge.

"Well, I guess every angel needs her own Angel." Joanne said, and I looked up at her. I laughed, but I kept it to myself. She was grabbing her coat.

"Wait, Joanne, sit down for a bit. You're no cleaning lady." I told her, and she looked over at me, shaking her head.

"No, you've got a lot to do, don't bother. We'll see each other tomorrow, trust me." She said and continued with her coat process. I walked over to her, shutting the fridge door. I took her coat in my hand.

"Yes, and you'll have a crazy diva attached to you all night." I told her, and hung her coat up. "No offense to Maureen or anything sweetie, but I want to know you Joanne. Not how you get it on." I said, and we laughed. "Now sit down girl. Have a drink with me. Lord knows I have to be dazed to meet these guys." I told her, walking back to the fridge grabbing a bottle of wine and two glasses. I walked back over to her, and sat across from her.

"Real hard-asses?" She asked me, pouring the wine. I sighed and took my glass, looking at it.

"Like you would believe sister." I told her, and looked back at her. "Dad's not so bad, but his mother…not what I expected from Collins." I said, and she sighed with me.

"Well good luck to you honey." She said, lifting her glass, and I copying, toasting each other. We both took a sip, and she laughed.

"Be funny if Collins was a momma's boy, wouldn't it?" She mused, and I laughed.

"I wouldn't be surprised. That boy is as loyal as a poor old dog." I told her, and she snorted. "What he'll do for family and friends in ridiculous, I just sometimes wish he would obey the law a little like he obeyed me when I'm sick." I told her, and she laughed.

"Well hey, at least you have power over your man." She said, and I sighed, knowing what this was about. "You know, it's funny, one night, Maureen and I were going to bed. Not to gross you out, but I wanted to fool around." I couldn't help but make a face. Sure, sex interested me, just not the kind with two vaginas. Ew. "But, Maureen retorted and just kind of walked away from me. I thought, you know, whatever; maybe one night without sex would do me some good. So I finally get comfy in bed, close my eyes, and I'm all ready to fall asleep right there, and then she starts." She said, finishing her glass, and pouring another one. I sympathized. I had watched those cartoons. You know the ones, where a Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are Duck Dodgers, and Porky comes up with an idea, Daffy says it's stupid and suggests the exact same thing. I never really liked Daffy.

"Well, maybe if you stop playing her games, she'll change the rules a little." I suggested. "Show her who's actually boss, at least once and a while." I told her, and finished my glass too. She laughed and shook her head.

"Is that why everyone loves you Angel?" She asked me, and I could help but laugh back at her. She could be as blunt as me.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Joanne." I told her honestly.

"You're just so...I don't know. You just make people happy, no matter what you're doing. Telling me to whip Maureen into shape isn't the most realistic thing in the world, but after hearing it come from your mouth, it actually makes sense." She said, and grinned. That did make me feel really good, if I had that kind of power over people.

"Well, like I always say girl, if it feels right, do it." I told her. She smiled at me, and looked at her watch, sighing.

"I should get going though. Maureen expects me to show up at home to go shopping in twenty minutes." She told me, and frowned, my face copied.

"Aww, Joanne, just when we were starting to have fun." I whined, and she grinned.

"Don't worry, you'll have lots of fun when you're in-laws are here." She said, and winked. I rolled my eyes.

"Um, no. The one positive thing to not be married to Collins is not having to call those nut jobs family." I told her, and she laughed. I stood up, and walked over to the sink, placing our glasses in there, she helped, clearing the table, and putting the wine in the fridge. She looked at me, and I turned to her.

"It's been good talking to you Angel." She said, and walked over to her coat.

"Hopefully we can do this again sweetie. I'll see you tomorrow." I told her, and she waved, leaving. I shook my head, just thinking. As I finished the dishes, I was a lot more calm than before. I only had two glasses of wine, so I was fine sober-wise, but talking with Joanne just made me feel a lot better. I'm not sure why. It was mindless chit chat, but maybe it was because she was different. She was like me, and I could talk to her easily. As I thought and finished the final touches on myself, I heard the door open. I put my earrings in, and walked out of the bedroom to see Collins and his parents. Both were positively loaded. Just the way they stood made me tell that Collins used to have a very good life when he was younger.

"And this, mom and dad, is my Angel." Collins said, pointing to me, and I grinned, walking over to them, extending my hand. Collins's father, who looked quite pleased with me, grasped my hand, shaking it.

"It is so nice to finally meet you Angel. I can now put a face to everything my son talks about." He said and chuckled. I couldn't help but blush and look at Collins, who was not making eye contact. I turned back to his father.

"Well, it's really nice to meet you too Mr. Collins, I really-" I began, but he held up a hand.

"What am I, you're boss? Call me dad, please. Or at least Eddie." Aww, Eddie, now come on, that's an adorable name. "Actually, no, call me dad. I've never had a daughter before." He said, and I almost started crying. This is where Collins came from, the sweet kind man I love had come from solely this man.

"Alright, dad." I said, and thought about it. "That was weird." I mumbled, giggling.

"What is it?" He asked me.

"Well, I'm Puerto Rican, I've never said 'dad' before." I told him.

"Then, what did you call your father?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"I called him Papa." I told him, and he grinned.

"Better than 'old pops' like my son calls me." He said, and looked at Collins, who rolled his eyes.

"Well, you are." He said, and I giggled.

"Tom, that's no way to treat you father." I told him, and he kissed my cheek.

"And this, Angel dear, is my mother." He said, and I shook her hand.

"Pleasure dear." She said, and I just got too nervous. I didn't really no what to say.

"It's all the same Mrs. Collins." I said, and she didn't correct me like Eddie did. It was Mrs. Collins and Papa. Yeah, way to go mom. I smiled at them, and finally thought of something to say. "Well, let me take your coats, and you guys can sit on the couch, or at the table. I have some coffee and tea ready." I said, and released myself from Collins, Eddie handing me his coat, along with Mrs. Collins. I still didn't know her first name. I think it was Elizabeth, or something like that, but I wouldn't chance it. I hung their coats up, and Eddie spoke.

"I think a cup of coffee would be just splendid dear, thank you." He told me, and I smiled at him, walking over to the stove, taking out a few mugs. I knew Collins hated coffee, as did I.

"How would you like it?" I asked him.

"Two sugars." He said, and I smiled. I pour the coffee with the sugar in it. I walked over to him with a cartoon of cream, and handed the mug to him. "Any cream?"

"He likes his coffee _black_, as do I." Mrs. Collins interrupted. She really exaggerated the word black, and I could tell Collins was glaring at her. What was she getting at? "As should Collins." She added, and Collins stood up.

"Can I see you in the other room mother?" He asked, sounding irritated. She stood up, a smile on her face.

"Sure sweetheart." She told him, and walked off to the spare room. It was then where I think I got it. She didn't like me because I'm Hispanic. She didn't want Collins to be with me because I wasn't black. I sat down on the couch on the other side of Eddie, and I could feel a lump get caught in my throat. I thought it was because I dressed in drag, hating me for something I had every control over was something I could handle. It made sense, you know? But hating someone over something I did have anything to do with? Just thinking of someone being so close to me having that kind of a heart brought a tear to my eye, and I immediately wiped it away. Eddie was watching me, and he tried a smile, putting his hand on my leg.

"Don't worry Angel sweetie." He said, and I looked at him. "I like cream in my coffee." He said sweetly, and I laughed a bit. He set his mug on the table and poured a bit in, and looked at me, looking my face over, and pouring a bit more in. I blushed terribly when I figured out that he was adding enough cream to match my skin. He sighed, seeing me blush. "But, I don't like my coffee red Miss Angel." He told me, and I laughed. He hugged me, and I hugged him back.

"Thank you." I whispered. "You're really so sweet. I know where Tom gets it." I said, and he laughed. We let go and he looked at me.

"Well, that is surely a compliment." He told me. "I admire that boy. I really don't know why, but I do." He said, and I laughed. He rubbed my arm softly. "And don't worry about this. You're absolutely perfect the way you are Angel." He said, and I blushed, looking away.

"You don't have to say that." I told him, and he shook his head.

"I know, but I want to tell you that. You make my son happy. He loves you more than anything Angel. I have never seen than boy care about anyone but himself since I heard about you. As for yourself, you seem to make yourself happy enough. As long as your happy, and keeping others around you happy, you are perfection." He said softly, and I hugged him. We heard Collins and his mother walked back in, and we detached. Collins sat next to me quickly, his mother sitting in his usual armchair. He wrapped an arm around me, and kissed my cheek. I couldn't help but grin and looked over at him. I completely forgot the two other people in the room. We kissed sweetly, and Mrs. Collins interrupted us.

"How long have you two been together?" She asked, and I couldn't tell her kind of attitude.

"Since December." I said happily. I ways always willing to share that information with anyone. Collins chuckled, and squeezed my hand. "Christmas Eve actually." I corrected myself.

"You meet at some kind of party?" She asked.

"Not really...we did go to one together that night, but it's not how we met." I said, not sure if Collins wanted to inform them on the fact that he had been mugged and beat up living here.

"How did you meet then?" She asked. I just soft of giggled letting Collins answer that.

"Well, it was the night I got back from MIT, and I came to see Roger and Mark. I was just about to get into the building when I got mugged." He said, and she gasped. He shook his head. "It's alright, that was about half a year ago mom." He said. "So, I'm out in the alley, assuming, I'm just going to die right here, and hope the coroners have gloves on so they don't get sick. That was that, however, within about ten minutes I hear someone finally checking the alley out, Angel. She saved my ass, let me tell you. She took me into her apartment, cleaned me up, hell, even bought me a new coat. Then, she spent her money on me, Mark and Roger, and then paid for most of the dinner a bunch of us had." He said, and I just blushed the whole time. I never listened to the story like that. My side was, I just killed a dog for money and needed to get rid of it quick so I wouldn't get arrested. He was on the street, cold. I took him in, and spent most of the money on him and his friends.

It was then when I felt his mother's eyes on me. I looked at her, curious. Was she going to say something to me, or continue staring?

"So, what were you doing in an alley?" She asked, and I couldn't help the face I made. What, did she think I was living in one? I'm not a sea urchin or anything.

"Well, I wasn't in the alleyway to begin with. I was walking down past the alley from work and I heard him coughing." I said, not being able to help the attitude on my voice. It must have been apparent, because Collins's grip on me tightened. I didn't even turn to look at him. She gave me a sarcastic look.

"Oh, you work?" She asked, trying to sound sweet. Okay, now that was one racist comment too far.

"Yes, I DO work thank you very much. I DO have an apartment that I've been living in since I was sixteen. Since I left my house I've been doing anything I can to make sure that I'm as healthy as possible." I said quickly, wanting to smack her.

"I guess that didn't work out to well, did it?" She asked, and I stood up. Collins stood with me, and whispered, begging me to sit back down, I did, figuring he should handle this, not me.

"Mom, can you just make this one day not about you? Angel spent all morning cleaning by herself-" I had to interrupt him.

"Joanne helped." I mumbled, and he looked down at me.

"With help of Joanne, and I-"

"Isn't she that nice girl we saw walking down the street?" His mother asked. See, I told you. Collins sighed, and rubbed his temples, sitting down.

"Yes, yes she is." He said, and gave her a fake smile.

"Isn't she the lawyer?" She asked him, sounding interested.

"Mom, she's dating my best friend." Collins said, to answer her real question. She rolled her eyes.

"I doubt that'll last." She said, and Collins groaned.

"Let me correct myself, she's dating Maureen." He told her, and she made a face, sighing.

"Well, she at least LOOKS you age." She muttered, and Collins made a face.

"What?" He asked. She let out a laughed.

"Sweetie, no offense, but when I look at you two, it's like father and son." She said, and I made a face at her. If I was any 'son' she had ever seen I'd like to know where she lived. "How old are you Angel?" She asked.

"23..." I muttered, almost asking if that was alright. She snorted haughtily.

"See, now Thomas, that's just where I draw the line. Drag queen, alright, hooker, alright-" I looked right at Collins, how did she know that? "Spic, even that I can _live_ with, but she's ten years younger than you." That is when I stood up, Collins followed. Eddie took Mrs. Collins's hand, looking absolutely shocked.

"Elizabeth, why would you say something like that?" He asked her, sounding rather angry.

"Whoa, did you just call me a spic?" I asked her, giving her my best diva act ever. Okay, so spic was actually nicest insult I had ever received, but this was going a bit far. "I think you're a little too low on the ethnic food chain to be mouthing off like that." I told her, and her eyes got big, and she stood up.

"Excuse me young man?" She asked, and before she could continue I scoffed at her.

"Um, young lady thank you VERY much. And don't you be telling me what to do lady, alright. I spent over ten hours of my day, cooking, cleaning, redecorating so that I could impress the parents of the man I love. You finally get here, and you have the gall to tell me what to do and call me names, and try and set my boyfriend up with someone else right infront of me. Oh no you did not." I said, Collins grabbed my arm, trying to calm me down. "Um, no." I said looking up at him. "I give a damn who she is, your mom, your friend, whoever, I don't want that kind of bullshit in my house." I said and looked back at her. "And it pangs me to have to say this because you are the only love of my life's mother and you're husband is one of the sweetest men I know, but I need you to leave." I said, and walked over to the coat rack, handing her both coats. I didn't want Eddie to leave, but I figured it only made sense. She looked at me with daggers in her eyes.

"But where would we go? We just got here." She asked, not putting on her coat. I shrugged, walking over to the door, and opened it. She began to walk out.

"I don't know. Maybe when you get mugged for all you're worth then maybe you'll appreciate the kind of person I am. And just so I can make sure that happens, Tom will not be showing you back to the train station. He will be here eating turkey and mashed potatoes and drinking tea and wine with his friends and family. The ones who can accept him." I said, and slammed the door on her. It was just me and Collins now. He looked at me, and he looked so sad. I had just kicked his mother out of our home. I looked at him, and walked over to the stove, turning off the burners, and placed the food from the pots to nice bowls and plates. All the money I had to rake in to have that happen to me. I couldn't feel any worse. I placed the bowls on the table, walking back to the stove and started the dishes. Collins had walked over and placed his arms around me as I washed the dishes. I sighed, and he kissed my ear.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart." He said. "I tried to talk her out of it, but she would barely listen. She never has." He mumbled, and gave me another kiss. I turn my head to kiss him.

"It's okay." I told him, and sighed. "Besides, she is right." I said, and Collins raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?"

"Well, you are kind of a pedophile." I told him, and he just laughed. "No, I'm serious." I told him, and turned myself to face him again. "When you were twenty, off at COLLEGE, I was ten years old baby." I told him, and he thought about it, making a face.

"Why'd you have to go and ruin it baby?" He asked me, and I laughed.

"Calling me 'baby' isn't helping either mister." I said, and he kissed me, and squished his cheek together with my wet hands. He tried to wiggle away. He finally did, and I laughed. "Go call everyone. I've got enough food and booze to keep this whole city happy." I told him, and returned to the dishes.

"That's a lot of fucking booze baby." He said, and I grinned. He began his phone tree. Mark and Roger were first, and then the party would start. It would only take them all five minutes to get up here. They were all constantly over here anyway. Collins walked back over to me, and slipped his arms inbetween mine, and helped wash some of the dishes. That didn't help at all. What really didn't help what him kissing the back of my neck as he did so and rubbing up against me. That was just playing dirty. Every so often he would murmur my name in my ear. I turned around, because I couldn't take it. He grinned at me, and I reached out to kiss him. He picked me up, dropping me on the couch, laying me down on my back. Our pointless making out lasted for a few minutes, and I sat up, climbing off the couch, kneeling infront of him. We still had a safe ten minutes until everyone would be over, so I figured I was safe if I did well enough. He looked down at me, and I looked up at him as I unzipped and unbuttoned his jeans. He traced a finger down my cheek as he leaned back on the couch, ready for his treatment. I bent my head down, taking only his head for a few seconds, and I heard an irritated groan escape his lips, so I took the rest of him in. He pumped himself softly, grabbing at my wig, groaning every so often if I changed the pace. "Oh Angel baby..." He muttered, and I giggled, but it was obviously muffled. I could swear he would be there in like four seconds, and the door swung open.

I'm going to tell you something before I finish. When you're having sex, or giving head, make sure the door is not only closed, but locked. Our friends knew we had sex all the time, but they had never seen anything happen past Collins's hand wandering under my skirt. Even if they did see us have sex, whatever. Like we haven't walked in on any of them. So, if it was Mark, or Maureen, Roger, Mimi, even Joanne behind that door, that would be fine. We told them to come over anyway. However, that was not the case. Let me continue, I never jumped and ran that fast in my life.

Enter the parents of Thomas B. Collins, the man I was giving head to, Elizabeth Collins and Eddie Collins. Good timing guys. Collins looked, expecting Mark, hoping I could just finish him off. He jumped seeing his parents there, and as he turned as red as a Hispanic cherry, still don't know if they exist, tried to hid his massive erection in his jeans. Was not going over to well, do better next time. His mother looked right at me, and I froze.

"I came back to get my purse." She said, because I'm pretty sure she didn't have much of a witty comment for that. I nodded, not moving anymore than that. As she moved to the table where her purse was, I heard Eddie laugh.

"Nice son...nice." He said, and I blushed.

"Thanks...dad..." Collins said painfully, I didn't even look at him. I was very interested in the ceiling at that point. They both left quickly, shutting the door. Once it was shut, I bit my lip, trying not to laugh, but Collins just let it go. "Honey, that was worth it." He said, and I snorted, sitting next to him.

"I wonder what they're talking about." I thought aloud. He smirked.

"That you're a slut." He said, and kissed my cheek.

"That you should join NAMBLA. You fucking perv." I said, and stood up, walking back to the kitchen and continued the dishes. He laughed.

"You're not even going to finish your boyfriend off?" He called at me. "You really are a spic." He said, and I laughed. I walked back over to him, and grinned, thinking I was going to finish him off. I sat down in his lap, straddling his hips.

"What do you want baby?" I asked and he grabbed up my skirt, playing with the underwear covering up my behind. I giggled. "Oh Thomas...you dirty boy." I muttered, bending down, biting his shirt, lifting it up over his head. He smirked at me, and the first thing I did was place my wet soggy hands on his chest. He jumped harder than I did earlier. I rolled on the couch laughing as he shivered from the gross sink water. I laid on my side, just giggling. I felt pressure on my back. Now I felt a lot of pressure on my back, and it hurt. Collins was sitting on my lower back.

"Now who's laughing Angel?" He asked, and started to rock himself, like he was a cowboy or something. I shouted in retaliation, and kicked his back, but he wouldn't have any of it. He slapped my butt and continued to rock as I groaned in pain. The door opened again, to reveal Roger and Mark who looked either really pleased, or just confused. It was actually both. Mark was pleased to get me playing horsey against my will on camera, and Roger just wanted it to end.

"Whatcha guys doin'?" Roger asked, and I groaned again. I could barely breath. I grabbed up all my strength and sat up, making the man on top of me, who was twice my size, thank you very much, topple over. I stood up, and almost tripped, fixing my wig.

"I really don't know." I told Roger. Mark just grinned, continuing his camera-ing. I looked at him. "Baby, if you don't put that goddamn camera down, I'll French kiss you." I warned him as I began to pour some wine. I didn't see the camera for the rest of the night.


	15. Sweat Sweet

Okay, it could NOT get any hotter. In all honesty. It's either way too cold, or way too hot in my apartment, and it didn't help that fact that Collins was in a very cuddly mood. I love snuggling with him, hell, anyone really, but it had to be about four thousand degrees. I had busied myself with house work, getting rid of old clothes, large blankets, all that. I was selling practically the whole inside of our apartment. We didn't need any of that stuff anymore, and we needed money. I had promised Collins I wasn't going to go out and 'work' unless it was absolutely necessary. It had been about three months since he found out, and I haven't gotten the nerve to do it again. So, instead of selling my body, I sold old things that went on my body. I knew it would be rare to find anyone who would buy them at this time of the year, but someone needed it.

It was a very quiet day, Collins had just got back from a summer school session he had been at since I woke up, and he had been distracting me since he got home. I didn't mind. He made some comments about my little outfit, and when I say little, I mean it. Short Daisy Dukes and a white tank top. That was it actually. Too hot for make-up and heels and a wig. Collins didn't mind. I finally gave into him. He was laying on the couch in a wifebeater and his boxers, dozing. Imagine the cutest thing you've ever seen, and make it sexy. That was what was lying on my couch. Everytime I walked past him, I would have to resist the urge to just jump him. It also didn't help when he would tickle my leg when I walked past. So, I did all I could do. While he wasn't expecting it, and jumped in his lap, making him groan. He definitely was exaggerating that, he had to be twice my size. I just giggled, leaning down and kissed him. He took my hands and intertwined our fingers as we kissed.

I've never EVER said this, EVER, but I didn't want to have sex with Collins. He was all for it. But it was just so goddamn hot. Maybe tonight when it was cooler. So, I broke the kiss and leaned my forehead on his sweaty one. He smiled, getting the hint.

"This all we're doing today?" He asked me, and I shook my head.

"This is all YOU'RE doing." I corrected him. "You just rest your sexy ass here. I'm going out with Mimi." I told him, and sat up, about to climb off him.

"Sounds like a plan." He said and laughed. "Where are you guys going?" I just shrugged.

"Um...park...maybe some 'shopping'." I told him, exaggerating the word 'shopping' with quote-y fingers. He laughed again.

"As long as you change infront of me before you leave." He said, and winked. I rolled my eyes and hopped off of him.

"I'm not changing." I told him, and he grabbed my wrist quickly.

"You're going outside, like that?" He asked, looking me over, as if he hadn't a million times earlier. I thought he liked my outfit, so I pouted when he spoke.

"Yeah...why don't you like it?" I asked him. He nodded in response.

"Angel cake, I LOVE that little thing on you, but so will the rest of New York City, and I don't feel right with you going out like that." He told me honestly. I could have yelled at him. What did it matter if boys looked at me? They always did, and it's not like I'd ever just run away from Collins because a cute guy was checking me out. Okay, so I would flirt back, but whatever, it's all in good fun. I never meant any of it. However, instead of yelling, I just sighed.

"Baby, you KNOW that when guys look at me I'm just playing," I said, and he made an annoyed face. "BUT," I interjected, "I'm not going to be any trouble, because Mimi will be with me the whole time, and boys will be all over her in a second. Don't worry baby." I told him, and kissed his forehead. "Besides, I love you, nobody else. Flirting is fun, but not even close to as fun as when I'm making you blush." I added, and he chuckled.

"Alright, alright, you've made your case. Now, go have some fun before I change my mind and make you wear my leather coat." He said, and I laughed, standing up straight.

"Thanks baby." I said, and walked over to the table with my purse on it. "I shouldn't be too long. I might bring home some take-out." I said, and winked before leaving him to the apartment.

After my quick exit, I walked down the stairs my feet happy in sneakers and socks. I practically hopped out of the building. As I walked, I swung my purse around merrily. Outside of my apartment, the New York air was just so...perfect. The sun was out, I hear pigeons cooing, nice gentle breeze every so often, the trees planted on the sidewalks, little gardens, children playing in an open fire hydrant. It really couldn't get much nicer out. Perfect day for a park walk with my Mimi. I skipped and danced pretty much the whole way there I was in such a good mood. This was juts like the old days, when it was just me and Mimi in my apartment, going out just to exercise, before boys, before AIDS, before drugs, just two happy teenagers making the best of living. I walked up the stairs of her apartment quickly, sometimes skipping a step. I actually almost kept going up to the loft. It had been a while before Mimi and I hung out by ourselves. I walked up to the door and knocked, before opening the door.

"Mimi? Mimi-chica, where are you?" I called, stepping into the apartment, and closing the door behind me. I heard a thud, and footsteps pounding on the ground. She was in the bathroom. I heard her clambering down the hallway and she appeared as bright as usual, her outfit close to matching mine, but she worn black knee-high heels and a pink tank top. We are sisters, I swear. She squealed, and ran over to me, and I copied her actions. We hit in a tumble of hugs and kisses.

"Angel baby! Why do you look so good in just a simple little outfit?" She asked me and laughed. I did a little twirl for her.

"Well, actually Collins says the shorts show off my best assets." I said, and she raised an eyebrow. Collins used such ambiguous language. "And by assets, he means my ass." I said, and she laughed. "But look at you, all happy and glowing. What has gotten into you?" I asked her, pinching her cheek lightly.

"Just nothing to complain about. I'm hanging out with my girl all day, hanging out with my man all night. It isn't cold anymore." She said, and shrugged. "Now, speaking of the weather, let's get ourselves outside and have some fun." She said, and pushed me out the door. She took something this morning, I swear. Mimi was very energetic, but there was something about her today. I really liked it. We walked out of the building hand in hand. What a sight we were. Two diseased, dirt-poor, Hispanic New Yorkers in nothing but risky clothing. One a heroine-addicted S&M dancer, the other a boy who thinks he's a girl, dresses accordingly and is an ex-hooker. But you know what? We were just smiling and enjoying what was going on now, not how we lived or made a living. That's why people stared, and because they stared, Mimi and I were just having more of blast. We walked each block we could, seeing if we could get lost. It wasn't working, so Mimi thought it would be best if we tried a bite to eat, her treat.

"Oh really, well, if you're paying, then you'll have to wheel me out of this place on a dolly, and promise me you won't show me to Collins until I've puked it all up." I told her, and she pulled me in.

"Oh shut up, you could NEVER gain a pound Angel. I've seen you eat." She said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, then we'll be here for a very long time." I told her, and she laughed, as we walked over to a booth at this pizza place about two miles from our apartments.

"Oh hush you. Now, we're going to get a large with ever piece of meat and spice we can handle." She said, and grinned wickedly as we sat down across from each other.

"My stomach has already exploded babe." I said, smiling to match hers. We needed it badly. Both of our boyfriends were veggies, and couldn't hold down a green pepper if they tried. Mimi giggled, and looked down at the menu.

"So...what should we get...?" She trailed off, looking at everything they had to offer.

"The works." I said, and winked. She laughed, and stood up.

"Alright, but I warned you..." She said, and I looked at her shocked.

"Miss Mimi, you know very well what I can and cannot put in my mouth." I told her, and she just look satisfied.

"Yeah...I think we have all seen Collins naked." She said, and ran off to the counter to order. I growled in her direction, but couldn't help but giggle it off. As she left, I opened my purse, looking for some cover-up and lipstick. It wasn't even close to as bad out as it was in my apartment, so make-up wouldn't hurt. I was drawing my eyeliner on without a mirror, perfectly thank you very much, when I felt someone push me gently. I looked up, and Mimi was there, looking at me like she was ready to charge at the pizza she had just ordered. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she motioned her head over to the counter where only two people sat. Oh, I'm sorry, did I say only two people? I meant two drop dead bodacious babes were sitting like two gods of bronze in an unworthy pizza shop. My mouth just dropped.

"They'll be over in a second." Mimi said, sitting down, and that was the only thing that could distract me from them. I looked over at her.

"Mimi, we can't! I promised Collins-"

"Shut your mouth! We aren't cheating or anything, just having fun. We aren't going to get married to them. Jesus Angel..." She muttered, and I looked at her sorely. Well, okay, just some meaningless fun, that couldn't hurt, right? I sighed.

"Okay fine." I said. "But do they know that I'm...?" I asked, and she rolled her eyes.

"Babe, you're the reason they want to come over here. Or at least the faux-blonde." She said, and motioned her head to warn me of their entrance. Once again, something pushed me gently. It was the most amazing chunk of Hispanic buff I had ever seen. I scooted over quickly, and smiled at him.

"Hello ladies." He said, and I giggled. "Name's Miguel, and this is my friend Antoni." He said, and I think Mimi purred. I looked at her, but she was just staring at Antoni. That girl was so gone today, but really, who could help it? "Figured you two needed company."

"Well, that's really, really sweet." Mimi said, and grinned. "Well, my name is Mimi, and this is Angel." She said, and I felt Miguel's arm behind me, leaning on the booth.

"Angel, huh? Beautiful name, suits you." He said, and I giggled. I honestly couldn't help myself.

"Well, thank you." I said, and grinned, blushing.

"Haven't seen you girls around here. You from New York?" Antoni asked.

"Avenue B, yeah, but we decided to travel a bit today." I said, and Miguel urged a grip around my waist. I then got a bit tense, but I tried to ignore it. I mean, if Mimi could take it while Antoni was pretty much feeling her up, I could take a cuddle from a stranger.

"You feeling like traveling more?" Miguel asked with a smirk, his face way too close for my liking, and Antoni seemed to have the Energizer Bunny for a hand. The same brain waves I'm pretty sure passed through both our minds. This wasn't good.

"If you want AIDS." I answered, and Mimi choked on a breath. She tried not to laugh. There was a definite tenseness, and I repelled Miguel's grip. Mimi then made a bit of a snorting sound, and both of us looked down, trying to stifle our laughter. Okay, so I was taking advantage of my fatal disease. What else was I going to do with it? All I knew was that it worked, because in a few seconds both were gone, and the both of us were laughing as hard as we could.

"Oh my GOD girl, I love you!" Mimi said, hitting the table, laughing.

"What can I say, I'm grimly hilarious." I said, and snorted. Mimi lifted her head when our order was called.

"Be back love." She said, and stood up to leave. I laughed the rest off and thought, looking out the window. I felt compelled to just leave and tell Collins what I did. I wanted to tell him to come with me everywhere I went because I didn't want anyone else but him to touch me like that. But I didn't, because I could fend for myself. Mimi and I were tough cookies. She sat back down with a tray in her hand, balancing two Cokes and the large pizza. She used to be a waitress at one of the roller skating restaurants, where the waitress would roller blade to your car and give you your food. She set it down, and I grabbed a plate and a slice of the monster of a pizza she got.

"Girl, you are really going to have to wheel me out of this place." I told her, and took a bite, my taste buds merrily waking up for the first time in months. I grinned, happy to have that extra home spice in my mouth. This was the best, sitting here with Mimi eating fattening food topped with jalapenos and sausage.

"So, what has been going on in the world of Angel lately?" She asked me, and I shrugged.

"Absolutely nothing." I told her, and sighed. "I THOUGHT summer meant Collins wasn't working anymore. No, he's helping over there for summer programs for incoming freshmen." I said, and I was pretty nasty about it. I was very happy that people were taking such an interest in his class finally, but I needed him a bit more. Mimi made a face.

"Sorry babe. But you have a working man on your hands." She said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, and I've been playing housewife for the longest time." I told her and sipped my Coke. She just laughed.

"Oh yeah Angel, sounds like you'd HATE to just have to stay at home all day and clean as you please, while sew clothes back together for Collins and yourself. While decorating the bedroom, and cooking. I would just DIE if I were in your place." She said and dramatically threw herself down on the bench.

"Alright, alright, I love it. I just want him to be there with me everyday." I said, thinking of our daily routine. I would be cleaning or cooking, and Collins would walk in at any hour and grab me, kissing me, telling me how much he missed me. I loved that part of the day.

"I know, but hey...you have him all to yourself at night." She said and winked. I just laughed at her.

"That's why I want him there for the rest of the day." I said, and smirked. She hit my arm.

"Angel, you are SUCH a slut." She said, and laughed. "I can't believe you aren't sick of him. You have never been with a guy this long Ang'." She said, taking a few bites of her pizza, while talking. Oh she was a lady.

"I know babe, but like...I've never been in love with anyone like this before. He never does anything wrong." I explained, taking the last bite of my pizza, while I spoke.

"Yeah...you guys are just perfect." She mumbled, and there was a lot of envy in her voice. I frowned. Her and Roger were in absolute love...well...they would officially if Roger would just admit it. I reached across the table.

"Honey, no one, and nothing is perfect, and you of all people should know that Collins and I are not perfect." I told her, taking her hands, playing with her rings in my fingers. "You and Roger just have a more stubborn grip on life, Roger moreso." I added, and smirked. She sighed.

"I just wish he would...we would live like you two. You two know that fighting isn't worth the time we have left. I wish we could pass each of our pride aside to just...be happy." She said, and I leaned over and kissed her.

"And that is right baby. Just, always think that. Let Roger win all the time if you need to. If you love him enough, that will not matter to you. And how knows, maybe he'll catch on." I said, and she laughed.

"Yeah...I don't think so. Unless it's flashing in neon colors with a naked chick dancing near it, he's not going to catch it." She said, and I laughed. I rubbed her hands just a little more.

"Come on, let's get this wrapped up, and I'll sneak over your house tonight and we can whisper and gossip all night long." I told her, and she smiled.

"Sounds like a deal." She said, and grinned.

So that's how it was. Just...simple life, you know? I went home to Collins that night with Mimi and Roger with me. This is when reality kicks in, and I want you to pay attention. Mimi and I can say anything as long as we're together. And when I say anything, I mean an-y-thing. So, Collins and Roger ask us how our day went. Good thing Collins had already started drinking.

"Oh...it was fine." Mimi said, and rolled her eyes, and laughed. I joined with her. Collins lifted a brow.

"I'm not female, but I know what that means." He said, looking right at me. I tried to hide it, but failed.

"And what is that?" I asked him.

"You guys are not telling the whole truth." Roger said, pulling Mimi into his lap.

"What happened?" Collins asked, as Mimi squished her face to stop laughing. We didn't say anything. We just muffled our giggles. They had no idea we were both felt up by two strangers. Collins sighed, having to deal with our secret giggles a lot. He just pulled me close. "Come on baby, will you tell me what happened?" He asked, and I looked him right in the eyes.

"Only if you want AIDS." I said, and Mimi lost it. I wasn't too far behind. I could see Roger look at Collins with this face mixed with confusion, shock and worry. I could only imagine Collins's face.

"What?" Roger asked me after about three minutes of pure giggling.

"Well, why don't you ask Angel." She said, imitating Miguel's little voice. I blushed immediately.

"Oh...no you didn't." I said, crossing my arms. I felt Collins's hands on my shoulders.

"What?" He whispered in my ear. I was not going to tell them. It was all Mimi's fault anyway.

"Oh no, don't you even go there girl. I wasn't the one with the Dominican God's fingers up my thigh." I said, forgetting either men were in the room. She sat up on her knees to face me.

"Yeah, but you won't give up much of a fight when Mister bronze wanted to get cozy." She challenged, and I sat up on my knees. This was so war.

"Aw, is Mimi jealous that someone isn't just interested with my body?" I asked, and her mouth flung open, and I played a fake shock. "Oh...oh that hurts, doesn't it baby?" I asked her, and she was going all out.

"Oh you so didn't." She said, and just as she went to grab me, Roger grabbed her, and turned her around to face him.

"What the FUCK are you two talking about." He said, not asked, said.

"Mimi's little boyfriends." I answered quickly, and Collins pulled me back into his lap. He felt tense. Roger looked at me, and then at Mimi, pissed? Oh yeah. I refused to look at Collins.

"Oh...really?" He asked me, but looking at Mimi.

"Roger, they were NOT my boyfriends. Just two guys I thought me and Angel could talk to, but they weren't out for a talk." Mimi explained, and I snorted. Talk my ass.

"Oh, because your own company wasn't good enough?" He asked angrily. Mimi scoffed at him, and I nudged her with my foot. She looked over at me. I pleaded her with my eyes not to fight back. She looked back at Roger.

"I'm sorry..." She mumbled, and I heard Roger sigh. It took a while for anything to be said.

"We'll...we'll talk about it later, okay?" Roger asked, and that right there, even though his voice was still uneasy, that was the best thing I've ever seen. Roger didn't continue to argue. "We should start heading home anyway." He said, rubbing her arm softly. I smiled, and Roger helped Mimi up as he stood up. Alright, so I felt like a five year old getting punished but Roger wasn't yelling or running. That was worth it. He nodded at both me and Collins. Collins waved slowly, and I just smiled. When they left, Collins sighed, and I sat up to face him. He was thinking, not looking at me.

"I-I didn't like what they did." I told him softly, and he closed his eyes, and then looked at me.

"I hope not." He said simply.

"Baby, I was just-"

"Playing...yeah...I know." He said and my heart plummeted. I would have preferred his yelling than his disappointed voice.

"Nothing happened." I said. He looked away from me again. "Baby, nothing happened. They just wanted to sit with us and talk, and after a few minutes...they got too comfortable, and I...I felt extremely uncomfortable, so I told them to back off, that me and Mimi have AIDS, and they left." I told him honestly, well, sort of. He raised an eyebrow, looking back at me.

"What did they do to you?" He asked me.

"Well, one of them, Antonio, he put his hand on Mimi's thigh, and I was-" He placed a finger on my lips.

"What did they do to you?" He asked seriously, and I sighed.

"The other one, Miguel, it wasn't much, you know? But it was just enough." I said, feeling weird, talking about this.

"What did he do to you?" He asked for the third time.

"Well, I thought he was sweet, you know? Said I was pretty, said he liked my name." I said, and Collins frowned. That's how we met, or at least Collins's little pick-up line. Same as Miguel's, only less creepy. "So...I figured, how bad can they be? But, like I said, when Antonio had his hand so close on Mimi, I was looking out for her, ready to say anything. Before I knew it...Miguel had his arm around me, and his face was...really close, so I told them off." I told him, which took a lot of me. "I'm sorry baby." I said, but Collins didn't yell or even sigh again. He kissed me. It wasn't a quick little thing either. There was a lot of eagerness in that kiss. Fine, we'll do it his way. I just giggled.

"What?" He asked, kissing the sides of my mouth so I could answer.

"You are fresh." I said, and he laughed, picking me up, and sweeping me off to our bedroom. I wrapped my arms around him his neck, and kissed him. I felt him lay me down on the bed. He only let go of me to get his shirt off. Once it was, he was back to me, and I spent the same time touching his gorgeous chest. He placed hi hands on my shoulders, my straps falling off at his touch. His hands moved down to my shorts, and played with the buttons, sliding them off my body, letting me wrap my legs around him. Lucky for him I wasn't doing the whole underwear thing today. Luckily for me, underwear was all he was wearing today. He crushed his lips against mine, leaving me to moan against his mouth. I let my hands fall from his chest to the waistband of his boxers. I pulled them down, and he kicked them off. As he did that, I pulled my shirt off quickly, and he went back to kissing me the second my face was free.

He fumbled around on the table next to our bed, trying to find the lube. I giggled and kissed down his neck, nipping the skin lightly. He groaned, getting impatient with himself. He finally found it, and placed the gel in his fingers, and arched so he could rub himself with it.

"Don't tease me." I told him, and he chuckled lowly.

"Only if you're ready baby." He mumbled, and I nodded. He sat up a bit, one arm balancing him, the other holding my hip. He held himself at my entrance, and kissed my neck gently. I whimpered. My God I hate when he does that. He slowly entered me, and I whimpered. We never did this without getting me ready. I wasn't ready, and just laid, trying to get used to it quickly, trying to turn the pain into lust and pleasure. He was slow, knowing what was going on in my mind.

"Oh my God baby...oh my God." I moaned loudly as he quicken the pace a bit.

"You like that cake?" He asked me, and I clenched the mattress with my fingernails.

"Oh FUCK!" I shouted, and there was a bang on the wall. Our neighbors didn't appreciate us that much. Collins held a hand to my mouth.

"Shh..." He whispered, but continued to quicken his pace on me. I moaned under his hand. His face was dug inbetween my neck and shoulder, biting at the skin gently. His hand rubbed against my own erection, and began to pump me. I knew what that meant. He was close. Everytime he pumped into me, he grunted. It wasn't too much later when I shuddered one last time, and went right over the edge, and he was just behind me, filling me up, as he pumped quickly into me to ride his orgasm off. He fell on top of me, staying inside of me. He kissed my jaw gently, and I looked up at him, and kissed him sweetly.

We went to bed without another word or dinner. That was the last time Collins and I would ever be like this. It was the last time that I could. But, we didn't know it at the time.


	16. The Heart Has Expired

**I just updated this a few hours ago, but today, right now, I'm in the best mood to finish this. That means I'm in a bad one. I hope you guys enjoyed the ride, I know I did. You guys have been awesome, trust me. Now I think that I'm going to finish The Stranger. Stupid funny drama drama fiction I have up and have not finished. So, without further ado, here is the last chapter of Akita Evita. **

Collins looked up at Mimi, who was looking at him almost anxiously. They both sat in a car, Benny's car. They were driving home. Mark was in the front seat with Benny, and Mimi and Collins rode in the back. The car was silent. He had just finished reading this, this diary she kept from Christmas Eve until...until about three weeks before she passed. Three weeks before he passed.

"He loves you still." Mimi said quietly to a very hostile looking man beside her. Collins almost winced at the sudden noise, the mention of him, the mention of his Angel. Collins never believed in God, and even moreso now. If there was a God, how could he take such a beautiful person from this earth, letting him suffer for so long? Collins didn't like God. Not anymore. However, Collins HAD to believe in God and Heaven now. Because, well, how could you believe that a person like that just...poofed out into nowhere. Collins couldn't, and it hurt if he ever tried. He looked at Mimi, trying not to cry. He'd do that later, when he was alone.

"I know. I know." He said softly. "I just hope...just hope he knows I'll always love him." He said, and looked out the window, a tear slipping from his eye. Mark turned around and took his friend's hand. He didn't say a word. Neither did Benny or Mimi. There was no needs for sorry's and pitying. They had to live as if Angel was still there. Forget regret, right?

fin.


End file.
